Here is the winning recipe for last week’s Farmers Market’s apple pie baking contest. It comes to us courtesy of the winning baker... 12 year old Rachel Wise! This is seriously good apple pie... if you only bake one pie this fall, bake this one. It's that good! Read about the contest in this week's Farmers' Market report.

Caramel Apple Pie

For pie:

 1 pie crust for 9” pie
 3 Tbs. flour
 ¾ cup + 1 Tbs. sugar, divided
 1 tsp. cinnamon
 ½ tsp. nutmeg
 5 medium granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
 ½ Tsp. lemon juice
 2 Tbs. half & half or cream

For crumble topping:

¾ cup pecans, chopped
¼ cup flour
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
¼ cup cold butter

For caramel sauce:

½ cup sugar
1 tsp. water
¼ cup half & half or cream
1 Tbs. butter
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange crust in a 9-inch pie pan, trim edges, and use scraps to decorate crust. In a large bowl, combine flour, ¾ cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add apples, sprinkle with lemon juice, and toss to coat. Transfer filling to crust, mounding apples slightly in center. Brush edges of crust with half and half and sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Bake for 40 minutes, until apples just begin to soften. Meanwhile, prepare crumble topping and caramel sauce.

For crumble topping, combine pecans, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

 

September 17, 2008