Bourbon Carmel sous vide apple pie

 

Not your grandma’s apple pie!

This apple pie on its own is pretty epic, but the scientist in me had to kick it up a notch. I took my favorite  apple pie recipe from allrecipes.com and “sciencified”with the help of sous vide.

The dilemma I always have with apple pies is that Granny Smith apples just don’t have the sweet apple flavor I love. Other apples like Pink Lady and Fuji have that taste but turn to mush when baked. There must be a way to get the flavor and texture I want!  In comes sous vide.

With the sous vide technique you can use all types of apples in this recipe. The apples cook slowly at a low temperature thus preventing the breaking down of cell walls. At 183 F the pectin in cell walls breaks down, collapsing the cell wall and releasing the liquid inside.  There is an enzyme in the cell walls that becomes activated around 120F and inactivated around 160F.  This enzyme acts to strengthen the pectin thus preventing it’s breakdown at higher temps.

Many recipes call for adding  lemon juice as acid strengthens pectin.  Granny smith apples have more acid then other apples.  The problem with this is that granny smith apples don’t taste as sweet and lemons negatively alter the flavor of the apples in the pie.

Next for the apples… fall is a great time to make this pie as you can buy fresh apples from the farm or market.   You can never tell how long ago the store bought apples were picked and they may have been picked unripe.  For this recipe I bought crispin and golden delicious because that’s what the farmer had.  Crispin have a nice sweet, full apple flavor and I love the sweetness of golden delicious.

The next step is to seal the apples and any spices/sugar and cornstarch you need in a vacuum seal bag or a zip seal bag.  The vacuum seal works the best, but a zip seal will work in a pinch.  Using a sous vide machine cook the apples in a water bath at 155F for 1 hour.  I used the anova immersion circulator and a cooler.

 

Now for the dough.  I always recommend making homemade dough; store bought never seems to have the right flakiness.  My favorite dough recipe is the foolproof pie dough from Americas’ test kitchen.  It’s always perfectly tender and flaky.  The dough will need to chill for at least an hour before rolling it out.

Next is the  yummy caramel sauce.  Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and add the flour and form a paste.  Add the water, bourbon, cinnamon and sugars and bring to a boil.  Once boiling reduce to a simmer.  While it simmers move on to the next step.

Once the apples are done I let them cool to room temp and start working on the pie crust.  Take half of the pie crust and roll it out for a 9in pie  bottom crust.  Place in the pie pan and move on to the lattice top.  While you may want to skip this step and go the easier route with just a regular top, the lattice is critical for the  caramel top and looks beautiful.  It seeps into the pie and creates the sauce.

Remove the sauce from the heat to let cool slightly and set the oven to 350F.  Next, pour the apples into the pie and mound slightly.  Roll out the dough to a 12 by 8 in rectangle.  Next using a ruler and pizza cutter cut 8 x 1 in strips.  Then using the strips cover the pie with the lattice.

While the sauces is still warm, pour over the pie covering all of the lattice top.  Place the pie on a pan to catch any run off while cooking.  Then place in the oven on the middle rack for  1 hour.  Watch the pie so that it does not get too browned.

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Ingredients:

• Double crust 9in pie dough
• 8 apples of your choice (Golden Delicious and Crispin were used above)
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• dash of salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 Tbl flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 1-2 Tbl bourbon
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1.  Set sous vide machine to 155F.  Peel and core apples.  Slice 1/4inch thick. Toss apples with a dash of salt and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.  Place apples in a vacuum seal bag and then submerged in water with the sous vide machine.  Cook for 1 hour.  Remove from heat after 1 hour and let come to room temperature
2. If dough was not made ahead of time, make dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Melt butter in a small sauce pan and then add flour to make a paste.  Next add water, bourbon and sugars.  Bring sauce to a boil and then lower to a simmer while you continue the next step.
4. Roll out half of the pie crust for a 9 in pie.  Place in a pie pan and then top with cooled apples mounding slightly.
5. Remove sauce from heat and turn oven on to 350F.
6. Take second half of the dough and roll out to a 12 by 8 inch rectangle.  Cut 8 one inch strips and create the lattice top over the pie.
7. Pour sauce over pie making sure to cover all of the lattice.  Please pie on a pan and into the oven at 350F for 1 hour.