Salted Caramel Apple Pie

A few years ago I took a Sur la Table class called "Take and Bake Pies" for Thanksgiving.  I absolutely loved the recipe for this salted caramel apple pie and you will too!  This is a great recipe to make with kids.  Sometimes as parents we don't realize what our kids are actually capable of doing unless we let them try.  Children also have more desire to try new things if they had a part in making it.

My son had a blast making the leaves, 

peeling the apples, 

mixing the caramel and pouring the mixture into the pie.

And then with the left over dough and apple peels and cores he decided to make a "penguin snowman and his fish".

Salted Caramel Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients
My Pie Crust Recipe

Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp corn syrup
3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt

Crumble Topping:
1 Cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Apple Pie:
1 pie crust (above)
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced
2 gala apples, peeled, cored, sliced
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
Salted caramel sauce (above)
Crumble topping (above)

Directions:
For the caramel sauce: in a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water over medium low heat until the sugar dissolves.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil, without stirring. Use the pastry brush to wash down an sugar crystals on the side of the ban to avoid the caramel from crystalizing.  Boil the liquid until the syrup is a deep amber color, about 4 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream.   The mixture will bubble up furiously.  (Don't panic.) Gently stir in the butter and salt.  To finish, pour the caramel in to a container and allow to cool.

For the crumble topping: combine the dry ingredients and stir to mix well.  Stir in the melted butter and mix to form crumbles.  Set aside.

For the apple pie: preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl combine the sugar and flour and toss with apples.  Pour half of the prepared caramel sauce over the apples and stir well.

Arrange the leaf border after laying down one 9-inch pie crust.  Add the apples to the pie crust and cover with topping.  Use your hands to press down the topping all over the apples evenly, forming a compact crust.  Insert a pairing knife in the center through the topping to allow steam to escape.  (Do not slice the pastry!)

Place the prepared pie onto the hot baking sheet and bake until the pie is brown and the juices are bubbles, about 1-1 1/2 hours.  (If the pie browns too soon, cover it with foil.)  Cool to room temperature, slice, and drizzle with remaining caramel sauce.