honey apple pie

[Take 2] I know this is coming almost a week late, and I have been mentioning it non-stop since, well, I, err, burned it, but this is the pie you should make for Thanksgiving so you can stop kicking yourself after forgetting it the first time around. I’ve had my eye on this pie for a while now, waiting for Thanksgiving to come so I could release this pie’s addictiveness on others, but last year I had about seven and a half side dishes as well as a pumpkin cake and a special maple cream pie to make between 5:00 Wednesday night and 2:00 Thanksgiving Day and could not, for the life of me, find the time to make another pie.

This year was going to be my year — the year I brought an apple pie. But all my family wanted was an orange cheesecake, blah, and may I mention, very un-Thanksgiving-ish, but I’ve learned my lesson on requested dessert. So I made my second-ever cheesecake, again with the soggy bottom, ughhh. I could really go on until December 16th about my hatred for cheesecakes, but really why do you want to hear my complaining when there is an apple pie to discuss?

Apples. Smothered in caramelized honey. With hints of thyme, cinnamon and ginger. Wrapped in a flaky, buttery, latticed shell. Yeah, I thought that’s all I needed to say.

Honey Apple Pie
Adapted from Melissa Clark

Crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
20 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
12 – 15 tablespoons ice water

Filling:
5 Fiji apples, peeled and cored
7 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1/4 cup honey
6 thyme branches
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
4 tablespoons instant tapioca
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Coarse sugar

Crust: In a large bowl combine flour, salt and sugar and mix. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal and the butter is the size of peas. Add ice water and mix until the dough comes together. If necessary add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough has just enough moisture to hold together. (The dough should not be sticky.) Divide dough, wrap with plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling out and baking.

Pie: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice 3 Fiji apples and 3 Granny Smith apples into twelfths.

In a large skillet over medium heat, bring 1/4 cup honey to a boil. Let simmer about 2 minutes, until honey is caramelized. Add thyme branches. Arrange a third of the apples in a single layer in skillet. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons butter over apples. Cook apples, turning, until well caramelized on all sides (but not cooked through), about 5 minutes. Scoop out the apples and place in a bowl, making sure to leave as much honey in the pan as possible. Add tapioca and toss to combine. Repeat cooking process with apples and butter. Add second batch of apples to bowl, leaving the honey in the pan for the third batch of apples. Place the last of the apples into the pan. Once caramelized on both sides, remove the thyme branches and scrape the remaining apples and the honey into the bowl of honey glazed apples.

Thinly slice remaining Granny Smith and Fiji apples and add it to bowl. Stir in sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out both crusts to 12-inch circles. Place one crust in 9-inch pie plate. Scrape apple filling into crust and top with remaining crust. Pinch edges to seal. With a knife, slice 4 vents in top of crust. Place pie on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet. (Meg note: though the lattice lid is one of my favorite ways to top a pie, it is almost pointless to do it to apple pie. As your pie is cooling, the apples will fall/sink and your lattice work with either break and fall on top of the apples or it will sink upon sliding your knife into it. Regardless, I did it anyway. If interested in an easy method for weaving, let me know and I’ll update the recipe.)

Combine egg and water and brush on the crust of the pie. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is dark golden and apples are tender when pricked with a fork, about 45 – 55 minutes more. Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.