Caramel Apple Pie

A cosy sweet and spiced apple pie.

This is my caramel apple pie. It’s built on a classic apple pie base, but with a few extra steps to make it even better. There’s caramel sauce in the apple filling, and then at the end of baking and when the pie has cooled, I pipe in extra sauce in the holes of the lattice crust. It gives little gooey bites of caramel throughout. Oh, and a sprinkle of flaky salt too, because salt and caramel are a winning combo.

The apples are macerated first with sugar and lemon juice, which draws out their juices before baking. Then the juices are reduced slightly and combined with caramel sauce before being mixed back through the fruit. This step concentrates the flavour and helps stop the filling from shrinking too much in the oven, so the pie stays jam-packed once baked.

The caramel is there to support the apples and bring more sweetness, but it doesn’t overpower them. It melts into the filling as the pie bakes, and it thickens naturally as it cools. If you want to make your own, I use this homemade caramel sauce recipe from my blog.

I use my flaky all-butter pie crust, which you can also find on the blog. It’s super flaky because the butter is kept in bigger pieces and then laminated into the dough to create lovely layers. It’s not a tricky pie, though there are definitely a few extra steps to it (but I promise they make a difference!) Like letting the apples sit, chilling the homemade pastry properly, baking it thoroughly, and letting the pie cool completely before slicing. I actually make mine the day before so it has lots of time to settle.

I recently bought a baking steel for my oven, and it has completely changed how my pies bake. My oven doesn’t heat well from the bottom so it has always made it hard to properly cook through the base. The baking steel gives strong heat from underneath, so now my pie bases are properly cooked and evenly coloured without having to overbake the top.

Caramel Apple Pie

You can find a more in-depth version of this recipe with process photos on the blog.

Ingredients

Pastry

• Unbaked pie crust, enough for a double crust (top and bottom)

Filling

• 1.4 kg apples (3 lb, about 8 to 9 apples)

• 100 g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 90 g caramel sauce (6 tablespoons)

• 20 g all-purpose flour (2 1/2 tablespoons)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Topping

• 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water

• More caramel sauce

• Flaky salt, optional

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Instructions

1. Peel and core the apples. Slice them evenly to about 3 to 4 mm thick (1/8 inch).

2. Add the apples to a large bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Toss to coat and let macerate at room temperature for about 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 220 C (425 F).

4. Roll out one disc of pastry to a 30 cm (12 inch) circle and line a 23 cm (9 inch) pie dish. Chill this while you make the filling.

5. Drain the apples and catch all the juices in a small saucepan. Return the apples to the bowl.

6. Simmer the juices over medium heat until reduced by about half and slightly syrupy. Stir in the caramel sauce until combined.

7. Add the flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to the apples. Pour over the apple caramel mixture and toss to coat.

8. Spoon the apples into the prepared pie dish. It will be very full.

9. Roll out the second disc of pastry, cut into strips, and cover the pie in a lattice. Seal and crimp the edges.

10. Whisk the egg with the water and brush over the pastry.

11. Bake at 220 C (425 F) for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven to 180 C (350 F) and bake for a further 55 to 65 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the crust is deep golden. Cover loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly.

12. Cool the pie for at least 4 hours before slicing. Once the pie has cooled, I pipe a little extra caramel into the lattice gaps before serving and sprinkle with some flaky salt.

Happy baking!