Karens Apple Pie Recipes

FRENCH APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Place one crust in a 9 inch pie pan.
• Mix apple slices and raisins and place in pie shell.
• Sprinkle with lemon juice.
• Mix remaining ingredients (not Icing) and sprinkle on top of apples and raisins.
• Dot with butter if desired and place 2nd crust on top.
• Crimp or flute edges as desired.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and Bake 40 more minutes.
• When pie is cool, mix the icing and drizzle over the crust.

KENDRA'S APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place bottom crust in large deep-dish pie pan. Fill bottom crust with sliced apples. Combine ingredients in sauce mixture and pour evenly over apples. Combine ingredients for topping mixture. Put about 1/2 cup of the topping mixture on top of the apples and sauce mixture. Cover with top crust. Make several slits for steam. Bake for 45 minutes or until apples are tender and juices are bubbling. Remove from oven. Spread the rest of the topping mixture over the warm pie, being careful not to break the crust. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until topping is bubbly. Make sure you don't overcook, or the nuts could burn. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting.

KARDEA'S CARAMEL APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease and flour a 9- or 10-inch Bundt pan.
• Mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. Peel, core and dice 3 cups apples. Set aside.
• Blend the oil, sugars and vanilla in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer or in a stand mixer until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apple pieces. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
• Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan to a cooling rack.
• For the caramel sauce: Meanwhile, heat the caramels and milk in a saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the caramels are completely melted and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Let cool for 1 to 2 minutes, then drizzle over the cake just before serving.

BETH HOWARD'S APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a deep bowl, work the butter and shortening into the flour and salt with your hands until you see marble-sized lumps form. Think mixed nuts, but no bigger than almonds. Add ice water a little at a time, sort of "fluffing" the flour. Keep your movements light, as if you are tossing dressing into a salad with your hands. When the dough feels moistened enough, do a "squeeze test" and when it holds together you're done. Do not overwork the dough! It takes very little time and you'll be tempted to keep touching it, but don't! Now divide the dough in half, form each half into a disk shape and roll flat and thin to fit your pie dish. Sprinkle flour under and on top of your dough, and keep rolling surface and pin free from gunk to keep dough from sticking. Trim excess crust to about 1 inch from the dish edge with a scissors., Slice half of the apples directly into the pie, arranging to remove extra space between slices. Cover with half of your other ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt), then slice the remaining apples and cover with second half of ingredients. Add dollop of butter on top, cover with top crust, seal and crimp edges, then brush with beaten egg (this gives the pie a nice golden brown shine; be careful not to let egg pool in crevices.) Use a knife to poke vent holes in the top (get creative here with a pattern), then bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Turn oven down to 375 degrees and bake for another 30-40 minutes until juice bubbles. Keep an eye on it as it bakes. If it gets too brown, turn down the temperature. To be sure it's done, poke with a knife to make sure apples have softened. Do not overbake or apples will turn mushy.

RON'S BRANDY APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a large bowl, sift together flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, and mace. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until pea-size clumps form. In a small bowl, whisk together brandy, vanilla, and whole egg. Pour into flour mixture and blend with a fork until mixture is moist and holds together.
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide in two. Sprinkle with just enough flour and sugar to coat. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten and form two disks. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.
• Make the filling: In a large bowl, sift together sugars, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and mace; set aside. Place apples in another large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together brandy and vanilla; pour over apples. Add 3/4 of the flour mixture to the apples; toss to combine.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-inch pie plate; set aside. Place two large sheets of plastic wrap on top of one another on a work surface. Sprinkle with enough flour and sugar to lightly coat. Place 1 disk of dough on plastic wrap, and lightly sprinkle with flour and sugar. Cover dough with 2 large pieces plastic wrap. Roll out dough between plastic wrap to a 14-inch circle. Peel off top layers of plastic wrap and flip dough over into prepared pie plate. Carefully peel off remaining layers of plastic wrap. Using scissors or a sharp paring knife, trim edges to 1 inch. Reserve trimmings.
• Sprinkle reserved flour mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Fill with apple mixture, mounding in the center; dot with butter. Roll out second disk of dough between plastic wrap following the same process as above. Lay over apples. Cut vents into top crust. Trim edges to 1 inch and seal crimping edges with thumb and forefinger.
• Divide beaten egg yolk in half. Add enough red food coloring to half the yolk to create desired shade of red; set remaining yolk aside. Gather reserved pastry trimmings together and roll 1/8 inch thick; brush with colored yolk. Cut out into leaf shapes.
• Brush top of pie with reserved egg yolk and attach decorative shapes. Sprinkle with sugar.
• Place pie on a baking sheet. This will catch any juices that may overflow during baking. Loosely cover pie with parchment-lined aluminum foil. Transfer pie to oven and bake for about 1 hour. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for another hour. During the last 10 minutes of baking, remove foil so that the pie has a nice golden color. Serve pie warm.

CANADIAN APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a pie dish with 1 crust.
• Whisk together cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Stir apples, maple syrup and whole egg into cornstarch mixture.
• Pour apple mixture into the prepared crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Whisk together egg yolk and water in a small bowl; brush over the pie. Cover pie loosely with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil; continue baking until crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

AUNT CAROL'S APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Peel and slice apples. Toss with sugars, cinnamon and flour. Set aside.
• Roll crust to make slightly larger to fit 10-inch glass pie pan. Fit bottom crust in pie pan. Turn in apple mixture and dot with butter. Put crust on top and crimp edges of crust together.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Wet hands with water and dampen top of pie. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Puncture top of pie with fork so the steam can escape.
• Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking for about 45 minutes more, until crust is golden brown. It's a good practice to place a piece of aluminum foil slightly larger than the pie under the pie plate to catch overflows. Serve warm.