Salted caramel apple pie

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Although the saying is it’s American as apple pie but we Brits can make a mean one too. I have made so many apple pies over the years, mostly though they were not vegan or gluten-free. Now though after much practise I would say mine is as good, if not better than my original ones.

It is definitely a firm favourite in this house and everyone loved the addition of the vegan caramel sauce.

In my home apple pies should be encased in buttery shortcrust pastry, bursting with juicy apples, wafting with the aroma of cinnamon. This pie is

• Juicy
• Sweet with spices
• Buttery
• Crispy pastry
• Melt in the mouth
• Delicious
• Tangy
• Fruity

Working with pastry

The biggest tip I can give anyone about making pastry is that everything has to be cold. Using cold butter stops it from melting into the flour, especially on a warm day. It is also important not to skip the chilling stage. Chilling your pastry helps to relax it so when it comes to baking it avoids shrinkage.

You will want your pastry to be lovely and crisp and not soggy. To avoid this make sure your pastry is not too thick. It should be the thickness of a £1 coin.

Up until recently I had never used a pastry cutter, now despite cutting myself once I prefer using one over a food processor.

Making it gluten-free

This works well using a gluten-free pastry (as in the above picture). You need a good quality gluten-free plain flour such as Dove farms. To that add 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum. By nature gluten-free pastry is more fragile and it does require more delicate handling. Often there are some patches, despite that it still tastes utterly delicious.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

• Preparation Time 15 Minutes
• Cooking Time 30 Minutes
• Serves 4

vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of mixed spice
• 2 tbsp of cornflour
• 650g of Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced. Approximately 5 big apples
• 30g of caster sugar

For the caramel sauce

• 85g of dark muscovado or light brown sugar
• 30g of vegan butter such as Flora unsalted block
• 150g of vegan double cream or oat cream
• 1/4 tsp of salt

For the pastry

• 400g of plain flour
• 200g of unsalted cold vegan butter cut small
• Small pinch of salt
• 6 tbsp of ice-cold water
• 2 tbsp caster sugar for sprinkling

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Instructions

1. To a large bowl add your flour, butter and a pinch of salt. Using a pastry cutter, press down and twist until you have what looks like rough breadcrumbs, it does not have to be too fine. You could also use a food processor to do this. Add the water a little time, using a round-edged knife or pulse in the processor until the pastry comes together into a ball. You may not need all the water or you may need a little extra. Wrap in some clingfilm and shape into a disc. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. In the meantime place the sugar, spices, cornflour and apples in a bowl and mix and set to one side
3. Preheat the oven to180- 200C/Gas MK 7
4. Into a saucepan melt the vegan butter with the dark muscovado sugar over a low heat. Once that is melted and the sugar has dissolved, add the cream and the salt, turn up the heat and boil rapidly for 3-5 minutes, stirring continuously until you have a creamy thick sauce. Remove from the heat.
5. Remove the pastry from the fridge and place it onto a clean floured surface. Using 2/3rds of the pastry roll out to at least 12 inches. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin, then unroll over the pastry dish. Press into the tin and trim off any excess. Don’t worry about any breaks you can always patch it up.
6. Place the apple filling into your pastry case and pour over half of the caramel sauce.
7. Roll out the remaining pastry to fit your pie dish and place it on top of the filling. Trim away any excess pastry and. cut 2 slits in the middle of the pie. You can flute the edges of your pie with your fingers or by using a fork press it down around the edge of the pie.
8. Brush with some vegan milk and sprinkle over your caster sugar
9. Place into the oven on a metal tray and bake for around 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown. If it is browning too quickly then place a sheet of tin foil over the top.
10. Use the rest of the leftover caramel sauce to drizzle over your slice of warm pie and maybe add some ice cream too.

• Vegan Cottage Pie
• Smoky Red Lentil & Carrot Soup
• Soft Gluten-Free Bread Rolls
• Hearty Vegetable & Ale stew with Dumplings
• Cream of Mushroom Soup

 If you like this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Twitter as @veganalchemist1 or my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/146887870900498 I love seeing your versions of my recipes and I love hearing your comments.