Several months back, after seeing some of my fellow bloggers posting about their baking adventures with the "The Sweet Melissa Baking Book" I went right out and bought the book and have been drooling over it ever since then. So I'm happy to be a part of this delicious blogging project over at Sweet Melissa Sundays. For my first week with the group, we baked Double Crusted Caramel Apple Pie picked by Susan over at Baking with Susan who also has the recipe posted on her blog.
I admit. I had some issues with the pie crust. I didn't know until after I started working on the recipe that I was out of flour completely. So I substituted cake flour for it instead as Melissa stated that it was okay to use it if necessary. And maybe that was the reason that I could not for the life of me get a decent dough rolled out. I followed all the steps with chilling the ingredients and the dough but after putting it in the freezer, I got a harder dough. So I managed to squeeze out two mini pies and called it a day. I think next time I would make the pie crust in advance and let it rest a little longer than the recipe called for. So please, keep all this in mind and forgive my frankensteinish pie crust appearance. I think with practice I will get a better feel for the dough and the presence of mind to make sure I have flour on hand the next time I make it :)
I was pleasantly surprised that the caramel turned out pretty good. I've not worked with that before on my own and having done so now I can't see going back to store bought caramel sauce again. Then again, I am a caramel fan and it's hard to find one that won't appeal to me on some level. This one was wonderfully buttery and I loved it. I might get finer sugar next time I make it as I did get a few tiny crunch bits of sugar that didn't dissolve during the cooking from the bottom of the pan.
Based on the reviews of those who were far more organized than I was, I cut back on the baking time and baked it at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until it was wonderfully golden brown. I have a huge sweet tooth, only slightly under lock and key lately, so I omitted the lemon zest so that the pie would have a sweeter taste.
Overall,I liked the pie. I especially feel like the queen of the world having challenged pie dough today.
This sounds like a very addictive pie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. You have some yummy stuff here!
Good for you! The pie looks great - very unique, like it has character! Yeah, cake flour probably isn't the best thing to use, but try again with all purpose and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the group!! And, thanks so much for baking along with me this week.
ReplyDeleteI think your pie looks great and I am glad you enjoyed it!
Pie crust is so darn tricky isn't it? I've been practicing a ton in the past 6 months or so, but it still scares me. This one actually worked fairly well for me though so definitely try it again if you get a chance :) Your pie looks wonderful - glad it was a hit!
ReplyDeleteYours is a thing of beauty! I had issues with the pie crust, too, but never would have thought of using cake flour like you did. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Sweet Melissa Sunday's! It's a great group, you'll have fun.
ReplyDeleteYour pie looks great! Pie crusts are such a challenge for me. I took the easy way out and made a crisp.
Welcome to the group! Your pie looks fabulous! I threw the crust out and used a frozen one. =X
ReplyDeleteWelcome to SMS! Your mini pies look delicious and way to overcome a challenge with the pie crust, especially since you were out of regular flour :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the group! Your pie looks adorable!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to SMS!! And congrats on conquering the pie crust this week. It's not easy. Your pie looks so tasty, I love that big plop of ice cream on top! YUM!!
ReplyDeleteyou know, as much as I bake I dont really do many pies. The crust part just stops me in my tracks. your pie came out beautifully rustic! no frankenpies at this blog!
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