Caramel Apricot Pie
Caramel isn’t only for apples – I love it as a flavor addition in nearly any fruit pie. This version, spiked with honey, pairs beautifully with apricots. Apricots, even when they aren’t ripe, tend to break down a lot when they bake - so I like to leave them in fat wedges, piled into the pie crust. For a special presentation, arrange the fruit slices in concentric circles for a flower sort of effect. The caramel poaches the fruit as the pie bakes, and both components infuse the other with a beautiful flavor to make a particularly delectable filling.
Nutmeg All Buttah Crust
151 g / 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
<1 g / 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
113 g / 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 13 mm cubes
57 g / ¼ cup ice water, plus more as needed
1. To Make the Extra Flaky Dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cubed butter, tossing the cubes through the flour until each individual piece is well coated. ‘Cut’ the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your fingers, flattening the cubes into big shards. As you work, continue to toss the butter through the flour, recoating the shingled pieces.
2. Continue cutting the butter into the flour just until the pieces of butter are about the size of walnut halves. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the amount of ice water listed in the recipe to the well, but have more on hand. Use a tossing motion with your hands to start to mix the two together. As it begins to become hydrated, you can start to use more of a kneading motion – but don’t overdo it: this will make the dough tough. Add more water about 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is properly hydrated: it should be uniformly combined and hold together easily, but it won’t look totally smooth. Dough that is too dry may have sort of a “dusty” appearance, or pockets of un-hydrated flour. It will not hold together and will appear crumbly. Dough that is too wet will feel sticky or tacky to the touch, and is often smoother and/or lighter in color.
3. Form the dough into an even disk, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/2 inch / 1 cm thick. Brush any excess flour off of both sides, then fold the dough into quarters. Repeat this process, rolling out the dough and folding into quarters a second time. Wrap the dough tightly and chill at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.
5. To Roll Out the Dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour, and lightly dust a rolling pin, if desired. Roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick, rotating it as you work to help prevent it from sticking. To transfer the dough to the pan, gently roll it up, wrapping it around the pin, then unfurl it into the pie plate.
6. To Prepare the Edge for Crimping: On a single crust pie, use scissors to trim away the excess dough, leaving about ½ inch excess all the way around the outside edge of the pie plate. Tuck this excess dough under, pressing gently to make it flush with the edge of the pie plate. On a double crust pie, gently press the top and bottom crust together to flatten the dough slightly, then trim the excess and tuck under ss directed for a single crust pie.
7. To Par-Bake the Dough: Dock the crimped single crust pie dough with a fork and chill well (at least 30 minutes). Cut a square of parchment paper slightly larger than the diameter of a pie plate, and press it into the base of the pie plate. Fill with pie weights to the top inner rim of the pie plate. Bake in a 425°F oven until the edges begin to lightly brown, 15-17 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights, and return to the oven until the lower portion of the crust appears dry and set, 2-3 minutes more. Cool completely before filling.
Caramel Apricot Pie
819 g / 1 ¾ pounds (about 10 medium) apricots, pitted and quartered
30 g / ¼ cup all purpose flour
1 par-baked pie crust (See Recipe Above)
99 g / ½ cup granulated sugar
64 g / 3 tablespoons honey
42 g / 3 tablespoons water
43 g / 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 6 mm cubes
2 g / ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
5 g / 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 g / ¼ teaspoon almond extract
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/204°C, with rack in the lower third of the oven (preferably with a baking steel or stone on the oven rack). In a medium bowl, toss the apricots with the flour to coat. Arrange the apricots, skin side down so that one of the ends of the apricots sits upward. Arrange the pieces in tight concentric circles inside the pie crust. Really pack them in tightly – if you think they won’t all fit, push them in even closer – overlapping is a-ok!
2. In a medium pot, combine the sugar, honey, and water. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium low heat – stir the mixture until it comes to a simmer, but once it begins to bubble, stop stirring.
3. Cook the mixture, occasionally swirling the pot (but do not stir!), until it becomes lightly amber in color. At this point, watch it closely – it will start to move more quickly. Cook it to a medium amber color. Remove the pot from the heat, and immediately stir in the butter, salt, vanilla, and almond extracts.
4. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes, then carefully spoon the mixture over the apricots as evenly as possible. If the caramel has firmed up, just leave clumps or pieces of it over the surface of the pie – it will melt into the filling in the oven.
5. Transfer the pie to the oven (on top of the steel/stone, if using). Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the pie from the oven, and dip a pastry brush into the melted caramel filling, and brush it over the apricots.
6. Return to the oven and continue to bake until the crust is deeply golden brown and the apricots are tender, 25-30 minutes more. If the pie starts to darken too quickly, you can tent it with foil for the remainder of baking. - it’s ok if the tips of the apricots brown deeply and caramelize.
7. Let the pie cool completely before slicing and serving.