apple Archives - A Storybook Life

Some days are just meant for baking pies, and today is one of them!

We’ve been so anxious for apple season to get here, so as soon as we could, we picked up some beautiful honeycrisp apples! We’ve already been enjoying them as snacks with a bit of peanut butter, I’ve made a few batches of apple crisp, and today is pie day 🙂

If you’re like me, you have a special Pinterest board set aside just for the special dessert ideas that you want to try! Well, I’ve had a pin that I’ve been waiting to try as soon as apple season got here. It’s called Cider Caramel Apple Pie. I got my initial inspiration from Hannah’s pin below, and have added my own tweaks to it.

Cider Caramel Apple Pie

The pie has three parts to it – Crust, Cider Caramel, & Apple Filling

We’re going to start making the caramel, and let it simmer while we’re making the crust. You could also make it ahead & use it for other recipes as well.

Caramel:

4 Cups Apple Cider
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter (I used sweet salted, because I had it on hand)

Simmer cider in a heavy sauce pan until it reduces by half – approx 20 minutes (you can make the crust while it’s simmering)
Add sugar & butter, stir occationally & reduce again to approx 1 1/4 Cups – until it thickens slightly. Then turn of the heat.

Pastry Crust:
This pastry crust recipe was given to me by a friend – be sure to follow her on Instagram @pottersarms
She loves this recipe so much, that she doesn’t ever use any other! I can tell you, it was very easy to make!

2 Cups Flour (sifted or lightly spooned – if it’s packed it could come out dry)
1/2 Cup Butter – cold but soft
2 Tablespoons Castor Sugar (finely ground sugar – I just used my emersion blender to make reg sugar more fine)
1 Egg Yoke
3 Tablespoons Cold Water
* For pastry topped pies such as this one, simply double the recipe & keep the top half covered until ready to roll out & finish pie.

Mix flour & butter with fork or pastry blender until they resemble fine crumbs. Mix in sugar. Make a well in the center, and add egg yolk & cold water. Mix gently until it’s mostly together. With flour dusted hand, gently work pastry dough togehter. Don’t overmix, because the crust will be tough. Roll out gently on a lightly floured surface. Lift dough with your rolling pin, and place in pie dish removing excess. Place in fridge while making filling.
*To make a savory pie, you can simply leave out the sugar.

Apple Filling:
5-6 Cups Peeled/Sliced Apples
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Flour
1 tea Cinnamon – I use Saigon for the absolute BEST flavor
1/4 tea salt
2 tea vanilla – I use Pure Madagascar Vanilla Extract for the BEST flavor
1 Cup Warm Cider Caramel

Mix spices, then mix in flour & sugar. Sprinkle over apples in the bowl & mix. Stir in vanilla & caramel, and pour into crust.

Roll out crust & top pie, crimping sides. Using a knife, cut 4 steam vents in the top crust. Beat 1 egg and brush on top of crust, then sprinkle sugar & cinnamon. Bake for 45-60 minutes – until brown & juices are bubbly. If the edges of your crust start to brown more than you’d like, simply cover the edges with some tinfoil for the remaining baking time. You must allow pie to cool before cutting, or it will be too runny.

I LOVE this cobalt blue pottery pie dish that my mom bought for me years ago! It was made by a local potter – Mr. White.

Enjoy & feel free to Pin & Share!
~ Pearl

“You & I can count the seeds in an apple, but only God knows how many apples are in each seed”

There’s something so heart warming about the aroma of apples cooking in the kitchen! Maybe it’s because of the memories of childhood when, as a little girl, I would “help” my mom & grandmother peel the buckets of apples on my great-grandma Pearl’s farm. I remember watching great-grandma Pearl put an apple in her hand sitting out on the front porch of her little farmhouse. Then, she would peel it as she spun the apple around and around in her hand. When she finished the entire apple, there would only be one very long piece of apple peel that would drop into the big pile of peels, as the apples made their way to the canning kitchen. Although I tried and tried to “get the big long peel” as a youngster, I’m only just now attaining that great skill 😉 Perhaps it’s the knowledge that Autumn, which is my favorite season of the year, is finally here that makes the onset of apple season so special? Or, could it just be the anticipation of getting a little taste of the delicious dish of apple goodness that is baking in the oven? Knowing me and my nostalgic outlook on life, I’m sure it’s a mixture of all of the above 😉

Even though great-grandma Pearl has long since passed, and I don’t currently have my own orchard, each year our family travels a few miles up North to pick apples at our favorite orchard. We usually wait until the end of October, but this year we decided to go up with some friends to see what we could find earlier in the season. I was amazed to find so many different types of apples available! I guess our trip will be an earlier one from now on, because when we wait until the end of October, most of the variety is already gone. But, that’s not to say that we can’t go up more than once and make the season last as long as possible 😉

I just love going to the apple farm, because besides apples, they have so many other things to see, smell, and taste! There’s the rows of corn stalks lined up like a marching band along the children’s corn maze, keeping the little ones continually guessing how they’re going to find their way out. There’s crate after crate of colorful pumpkins, guards, and squash, and I think the bunches of Indian corn must have every color imaginable, because they aren’t just brown & red anymore! And I mustn’t forget the luscious aromas that escape out of the big red barn, and somehow find their way right to our little noses! The scents of popcorn, cotton candy, apple cider, chocolate fudge, fresh baked donuts, and caramel apples all seem to mingle together and scream come & find me… and of course we must!

Even though I know what “type” of apple that I like the best, when we get to the farm, we still have to ask the same question every year – which is the best kind of apple for eating, and which is the best for baking?

Since I ask this question every year, I thought you might face the same questions when you get to the store, apple orchard, or farm stand in your area. So… I wanted to put together a little list of the different kinds of apples, their descriptions, and what they might be best suited for.

* My little secret… I love a crisp, tart, apple that is great for both eating & baking – so Jonagold wins the “Apple of my Eye” award 😉

Jonagold: An apple that is both tart and sweet. It’s firm texture makes it one of the world’s most preferred eating apples