5 Pound Caramel Apple Pie

I finally have the second part to my pie video up! If you recall the last video, I made enough pie dough for 2 double crusted pies. Well here I show you how to make the caramel apple filling for my favorite 5 Pound Caramel Apple Pie. This time I made a crumble topping for the pie but I think I'll make it a double crusted pie next time. Just can't get enough of that buttery crust!



5 Pound Caramel Apple Pie
Makes 1 9" deep dish pie

• 1 ball of pie dough

Filling

• 2.5 pounds tart apples
• 2.5 pounds sweet apples
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Caramel

• 3 tbl sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• a few dashes of nutmeg
• 2 tbl butter

Crumble Topping

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• 3 tbl butter, melted

Start out by peeling, coring and slicing your apples into same sized slices. I think I cut my apples in sixes unless they were small and I just quartered them. In a large dutch over combine the apples, sugars, lemon zest, salt and cinnamon. Put over a medium flame and stir to combine. Let the apples simmer, occasionally stirring very gently, until they are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove pie dough from fridge to allow it about 10 minutes to warm. Place a colander over a large bowl and empty the apples into the colander. Let cool. 

Place the juice released by the apples into a small pot over a medium flame. Add sugar and keep stirring the juice until it becomes very thick and syrupy. remove from heat and add spices and butter. Stir to melt an incorporate the butter. 

Now is a good time to roll our your dough. Place the dough disk between two sheets of parchment and roll it out, making sure to rotate the dough for an even thickness. Roll the dough until it is 1.5-2 inches larger than your pie dish. Remove the top layer of parchment paper and use the bottom layer to maneuver your dough into the pie dish, with the remaining parchment now on top. If you cannot remove the parchment without breaking the dough, put everything back in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Once the dough is in the pie dish and you've removed the parchment paper, tuck the dough into the corners of the dish. If your apples still aren't quite cool, crimp the edges of your dough: If you have a lot of overhand, fold the dough under and tuck the excess into the pie dish. I'm not going to try to explain, crimping- just watch the video! I use my index and thumb to shape the dough- but do what works for you! maybe you just want to crimp with the tines of a fork- go for it. No one will care because you made them pie!!  If you're still working on your caramel sauce or your apples aren't quite cool, put your finished pie dough back into the fridge.

Preheat oven to 425 degree. Place a baking sheet on the lowest rack of your oven.

If making the crumble, combine the sugar, flour, oatmeal, 1 egg and pinch of salt into a medium bowl and mix to combine. 

Once you've got all your component together (pie crust, filling, caramel sauce, crumble topping) it is time to assemble! Place about 1/2 your apples in the crust and top with 1/2 the caramel sauce. Add the other half of the apples and the other half of the caramel sauce on top of that. You're probably going to have to be careful about adding those apples but they will fit! Top the whole thing off with the crumble topping.

Bake your pie on the preheated baking sheet for 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until everything looks brown and crispy. If for some reason your pie doesn't turn beautiful and golden, turn your broiler on for about 2 minutes. Watch that pie!!

Let your pie cool for about 2 hours before serving.