APPLE PIE WITH CINNAMON SAUCE
Every Autumn, Michael and I take our kids on a day trip to the lovely little town of Oak Glen, California: a small agricultural community located in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. Our family knows it as “Apple Country” where we tour the apple farms, press our own cider, visit the village shops and bakeries, and stroll through the animal park and petting farm. It’s also tradition that we eat our weight in Apple Pie throughout the day!
One of our local faves for Apple Pie is Law’s Coffee Shop where they drizzle warm cinnamon sauce over the top crust. SO yummy (especially a la Mode!) and it inspired me to come up with my own version which you can find below. You can make the crust and sauce ahead of time.
Apple Pie with Cinnamon Sauce
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
Pastry Dough for a 2-Crust Pie (see recipe below or use your own, or you can use a store bought one)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 lbs (about 6 cups) apples (You can use a combination such as Fuji, Pink Lady and Granny Smith, or your own variety, based on what’s in season.)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon sugar (for dusting top crust)
Cinnamon Sauce (see below)
Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)
Directions
On a lightly floured surface, roll our half the pastry dough and press into a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
Peel and core apples, cut into thin slices and place in a large bowl. Add lemon juice and toss lightly to combine.
Add sugar mixture to apples and mix well.
Add apples to pastry dough-lined pie plate and dot with butter.
Roll out remaining pastry dough, place on top of apples and crimp edges. Make several slits near the center for steam vents while baking.
Sprinkle top of pie with 1 Tablespoon of sugar and bake for about 45-50 minutes until crust is golden brown and juices start to bubble in the center of the pie.
Cool partially on a wire rack and save warm or at room temperature. Drizzle warm cinnamon sauce on top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Pastry Dough for a 2-Crust Pie
Be sure to keep your butter and shortening very cold from the refrigerator. It’s the secret to a flaky crust!
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into roughly 1/2-inch cubes
4-5 Tablespoons ice water
Directions
In a large bowl, mix flour and salt.
Add cold butter and shortening cubes to flour mixture and pinch cubes with your fingertips until mixture forms clumps about the size of tiny peas (clumps will be uneven.)
Quickly sprinkle ice water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, over all of the flour mixture, tossing lightly with a spoon until you can form the dough into a ball. (Don’t overwork dough.)
Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest refrigerated for at least 30 minutes.
Remove pie disk from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes just to soften a bit.
Cut disk in half. Dust surface and rolling pin lightly with flour and roll one half into an 11-inch circle of about 1/8th thickness. Close up any cracks by pinching them together and smoothing out gently with the rolling pin.
Gently fit dough into the bottom of a pie plate and crimp edges with your fingers. Cover up any holes or cracks at this time. (A little water can be used to help with cracks just by dipping your finger in wet and gently pinching the dough back together.)
Repeat rolling process for top crust and bake as directed.
Cinnamon Sauce
Ingredients
1 1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
While pie is baking, dissolve cornstarch in water and stir until smooth. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, stir apple juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until dissolved and bring to a low boil.
Add cornstarch mixture and whisk at high heat until sauce comes to a boil. Sauce will thicken a bit.
Remove from heat. Serve warm. (When reheating, you can thin sauce with a little apple juice or water if needed.)
