Sea salt

Falling into Apples

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

There is a social media post challenging people to post something they hate that everyone else loves, have you seen it?

I think peanut butter and chocolate is one of the worst food combinations. I also think pumpkin spice is extremely over rated. Every time you turn around something that shouldn’t has pumpkin spice on the box!

During the fall months I would much rather a hot apple cider than a pumpkin spice latte. Give me apples and cinnamon over pumpkin any day!

I love salted caramel too – I have loved it for a long time – before it became a “fad” food. I also love it with apples and this Salted Caramel Apple Crumb pie is a winner!

Usually I like a double crust apple pie served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but for this pie I wanted more texture to go with the salted caramel. A crumb topping was the way to go! I also chose to put the caramel on top of the crumb topping after the pie had cooked. I wanted to ensure the flavor would be prominent and to keep the bottom of the pie from being too soggy with extra moisture in the center.

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil (trust me! Pies bubble over.)

Use your favorite pie crust recipe or a store bought crust. Place the pie crust into a deep dish pie plate. Crimp edges with your preferred method. I like using my fingers.

A batch of salted caramel either homemade or store bought. You can even use a jar of dulce de leche and add sea salt to taste. This will be added after the pie is done cooking.

7-8 good size apples of your favorite variety, peeled and sliced. Granny Smiths work really well because the tartness helps balance with the sweetness. Add sliced apples to a large bowl. Coat with 1/4 cup lemon juice. Add 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 AP flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice. Mix well and pour into pie shell making sure to level the apple mixture.

In another large bowl add 1 1/2 sticks softened unsalted butter, 1/2 cup quick oats, 1 cup of packed light brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix until all combined. Use hands to break up the crumble topping and place on top of the apple mixture.

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Bake for roughly one hour until crust and topping have browned and the juices from the pie a bubbling. If you need to cover the crust edges with foil to keep from over cooking and/or burning, do so.

Once cooked remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes before adding the salted caramel. The longer you let the pie cool the more the caramel will stay on top of the crumb topping and will be harder to spread – depending on your caramels consistency.

IMG_2358It smells so amazing when it is done! Salty, Sweet, Gooey, Crunchy goodness. My four favorite food groups covered! This fall favorite will be a great addition to your Thanksgiving desserts or just because!

Enjoy!

Life is sticky, just like caramel.

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

You can hear the crumble. Bit by bit, piece by piece. The sound echoing within the empty walls … the hollow finally showing it’s depth. During the day it is drowned out by the background noise of daily life. At night, alone in the dark, with nothing but your muffling sobs to drowned it out, the familiar shattering ensues.
It is one thing in life to know something. It is quite another to say it out loud. What makes it truly unbearable and downright full of shame and embarrassment is someone else saying it out loud. This is not the validation you want. This is not what you want to be recognized for or have attention drawn to. Yes, you know it. How can you not? You can “not” by ignoring it and acting as though it doesn’t exist. You have perfected the toddler mentality of if you can’t see it then neither can they. You know this isn’t true, but you still let yourself believe it. You have to in order to make it through. You tell yourself it isn’t that bad. That you can change it if you want to. It will be different this time. This is what has and always will define you, because you let it. Is it comfortable? No. Is it healthy? Hell no, and on so many levels. You know all of this … So does that make it worse? Does it make it worse to be an adult, know you have an issue and with a sound mind refuse to acknowledge it? Or is that the definition of scared? Maybe it is a fine line we walk between scared shitless and ignorance is bliss.
They say knowledge is power, so why after someone else tells you what you have known deep down in that hollow space, that you feel powerless and at your must vulnerable and/or shameful. How did you let it get this far. How did it domino so fast? Maybe you have to be so low you are forced to work up. Maybe you need to be scared so shitless that there really is only one choice … to move forward and to stare into the face of what ails you and tell it to sit down and shut up. The choice is yours and yours alone.

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Ganache Brownies.

Brownies:
Grab your favorite box or recipe (I love Betty Crocker’s brownie recipe https://havesweetswillshare.com/2015/09/03/look-for-the-signs/). Make per the instructions and let cool.

IMG_0988Salted Caramel:
In a large sauce pan combined 1 can sweetened condenced milk and 3 bags of Werther’s Soft Caramels. Stir until all caramels are melted and it is smooth and bubbly. Add 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt and stir until it is distributed. Resisit licking the spoon … the caramel is scalding hot! Pour this mixture on top of your brownies and set in the fridge sans cover to firm up.

 

IMG_0958Chocolate Ganache:
Keep in mind chocolate ganache (recipe in previous post here) needs to set at room temp. for about 12 hours to become solid and non-melting at room temp. If you make the ganache and pour it immediately over the brownies it will set up in the fridge but become very soft at room temp. I suggest letting the brownie and caramel set in the fridge while the ganache sets at room temp. After 10-12 hours you can beat the ganache with an electric mixer, just to make it spreadable and then slather it on.