Apple pie is quintessential holiday fare, and my family would be highly disappointed if it was missing from our dessert table. In my cookbook, Baking for the Holidays, I’ve taken my favorite apple pie recipe (found in The Vanilla Bean Baking Book) and added hard cider and caramel to it, elevating it to superstar level. A Different Apple Pie Making Technique The method I use for making pie comes from Ms. Rose Levy Beranbaum and her wonderful book The Pie and Pastry Bible. Releasing the fruit juice and then cooking it down helps control how much liquid is in the filling and gives it a more concentrated flavor. To release the juice from the apples in this recipe, you’ll mix the cut apples with brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt, and let them sit for a few hours, or overnight. The sugary juice is then strained and boiled down with the hard cider, to eventually be stirred into the caramel. Store-bought caramel can also work to save time, but make sure it is not overly sweet. Can this pie be made without alcohol? If you don’t prefer to use alcohol, the hard cider can be replaced with straight-up apple cider. […]
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