An epic apple pie that’s a mile high (well, not an actual mile but you get the idea)… this apple pie contained a whopping 36 apples infused with cinnamon coated in a caramel pecan shell! Rather yummy indeed, but a strange one none the less!
First up, you can give ready made pastry a try, but I really think that sticking with your own solid homemade one is best. And as a result where mine shrunk slightly with the moisture loss in the apples of going in and out of the oven, yours will probably look awesome!
So make the pastry first. In a large bowl rub together the flour with the butter, keep rubbing it through until all worked into the flour and light / mini crumbs are formed and even distributed. Slowly add in cold water and bring together in a bowl until a dough forms. If the dough is too wet add more flour, if it is too dry, slowly add more cold water. Bring together into a large ball, roll out on a surface dusted with a little extra flour if you wish into 2 portions (or save til later) and wrap in cling film. Chill in the fridge whilst you work on the apples.
The apples need to be peeled, cored and sliced thinly, which unless you have a gadget or lots of helpers, should take a little while! Add them to a bowl with the cinnamon, flour and sugar, stirring and coating well.
Get a pie dish and line the base with some of the rolled out pastry. Fill this bottom part compact with apples to give it a solid foundation. Then take a similar sized mixing bowl to the pie dish and fill it with layers of apple working your way all to the top, pushing down as you go trying to get as many apples in there as possible. Carefully invert the apples onto the pie base, just like a sandcastle lift off the bowl to leave a mountain of apples. Drape over another sheet of pastry, cut off any excess and crimp the pastry together to complete the pie. Pierce with a fork and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Before baking brush with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown in an oven pre-heated to 160fan/180c for 90 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Allow to cool.
Whilst cooling make the caramel by adding the sugar and golden syrup to a saucepan, heat it gently until it is gently simmering. As it simmers it will darken in colour, shake the pan gently if you need to check the bottom of the pan as you don’t want it to burn, take it to a dark brown shade but no darker. Once at that point, remove from the heat and carefully add in the cream, this will make it angry for a few seconds, let it calm, then add the nuts and stir through to coat well. Let this cool to room temperature.
Add the caramel pecan mix to the pie crust, which should hold the nuts in place. Chill to set the caramel coating before serving up one epic slice… goes great warmed in the microwave with ice cream!