Caramel Apple Pie

Yes! This does taste as good as the name sounds!

But first, a little history of how this recipe came about....

If you remember, we had a little snowstorm up here in South Dakota a couple weeks ago...

It was the kind of snowstorm you usually only find in stories, like The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or Rudolph, the Red-Nose Reindeer.

The challenge that weekend was cooking with no power, or spotty power. 

My food-channel-watching daughter came up with a dessert that didn't take long to put together or bake. We ended up eating by lantern light, but the power stuck with us long enough to finish baking it!

It was fabulous.

Again, remember that she developed this recipe in the middle of a blizzard, which means you use what you have on hand.

We had apples.

And one pie crust, leftover from a previous project.

And staples - flour, sugar, spices.

By the way, if you don't have one of these apple peeler/corer/slicers, put it on your Christmas list. It's a great tool for the kitchen!

Here's the recipe:

Caramel Apple Pie

Ingredients:

1 prepared pie crust for a 9-inch pie - you can use your own recipe, or my pie crust here one, Ruthy's pie crust here, or use a purchased crust.

6-8 cups sliced peeled and sliced apples
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix apples and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add sugars.

Mix flour and spices in a small bowl, then add to the apple mixture.

Stir together and put in pie crust. Fold edges over.

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown.

Remove the pie from the oven, and make the caramel -

Caramel ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter (don't use unsalted)

Put the sugar, water and salt in a medium pan. Swirl once or twice to combine, but don't stir it.

I know, I know...it just goes against the grain to cook sugar this way, doesn't it? But we've done it before, and it really does work!

Bring the sugar/water to a rolling boil over medium heat, and let boil until it turns a light amber color - about 10 minutes or so.

Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the 1 Tablespoon butter.

Drizzle over the apple pie. Let cool for a while - but serve it warm.

This caramel is an old-fashioned hard caramel. It makes a crunchy shell on top of the pie, and tastes like Werther's Originals :)

And today, I thought I'd leave with a shot of Wynter in her element - she is definitely a snow dog!

So, tell us - what kind of pie is your favorite?