Caramel Glazed Crumb Top Apple Pie and Pie Tutorial

I'm off the to the Apple Festival tomorrow with a van full of apple pies and tartlets. When an offer to bake apple pies for a booth at the local apple festival came I hemmed and hawed.
And then I decided to go for it, I was planning on going for fun no matter what. Well, 10 hours later I tell you that I have made 8 pies and 12 mini tartlets. It all looks yummy enough to eat and hopefully yummy enough to buy. But I can barely move.

I love to make apple pies because I love to eat them and I love them in all their forms: two- crust, sour cream apple with walnut topping (it's heavenly and a pain to make), crumb topped, apple and blackberry and my latest creation, caramel and powdered sugar glazed crumb top. I decided to go with the final creation for my pies for the festival, because it just seems a little decadent. I did leave a few minus the caramel -- just in case there were some traditionalists buying tomorrow. So, for this post I bring you a pie tutorial. I may not be a pastry chef but I have made a few pies in the past few years. I am not going to bore you with the actual crust recipe because you can review that post here: Bulk Pie Crust Recipe. I am going to start from the moment I take my pie brick out of the refrigerator or freezer.

Dip brick in flour and flour your rolling surface and rolling pin. When I am making multiple pies I use a pastry cloth because it really makes it easy to do the next step.

Roll your pie into an approximate 10 to 12 inch circle by rolling one direction and then turning or rolling 1/4 turn from your starting point. Continue turning until you have a good circle. I try to roll mostly from the center. If you roll on your edges too much you will have a more inconsistent circle. Reflour your rolling pin as needed.

Place pie tin on pie crust and place hand under crust or rolling surface. Flip over.

To create a clean edge, trim edges with a paring knife to 1/4 inch of edge. Then hem your edges by tucking the ragged edges under.

Make a decorative edge by pinching with finger or using a pastry shaper. You can tell by my inconsistent edge I am a pincher.

Now you have a lovely pie crust ready to be filled.

Apple Filling

7 to 8 cups of peeled cored and thinly sliced apples. ( I use an apple peeler/slicer/peeler/corer)

1/2 cup of sugar, plus a little extra for love

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1 Tbsp flour

lemon juice

Topping

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white flour

2 Tb cold butter cut into cubes

Caramel topping: 7 caramel squares

1 tsp water

Powdered Sugar Glaze:

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

milk

I am sorry I forgot to take any more pics but it is pretty basic from here on out.

Toss peeled apples with a few dashes of lemon juice and then add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Stir until all apples are coated.

Mound apples in prepared pie crust. I like to make my mound higher in the center. It deflates after cooling and if you don't over stuff your pie crust you are going to have a skinny deflated pie. Occasionally I even layer my apples in concentric circles but only on the top, because that is way too much work to layer through the whole pie.

Make topping: Combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in cold butter until you have the texture of coarse crumbs. Or throw it all into a food processor and pulse several times. It goes much faster this way. Spread crumb mixture on top of pie. It is OK if there are a few apples peeking through.

Cover edges with foil and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil from edges and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until crumb topping is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Prepare glazes.

Add caramel and water to a small microwaveable bowl and heat in 15 second increments until caramel is completely melted. Use a spoon to randomly drizzle caramel across pie.

Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tsp of milk. Add milk in 1 tsp increments until you have a drizzling glaze. Drizzle onto pie.

Whoo! It's a little bit of work but so worth it.

TIP: You can freeze your baked pies for up to six months. Do not add glaze and double wrap in foil. Label and freeze. To reheat, bake in 375 oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Protect crust edges with foil.