Salted Caramel Apple Pie

This weekend, I made salted caramel for the first time and aside from the fact that I'm shocked and elated that I got it right on the first try, I'm really trying to figure out why it's taken me so long to make it. Like seriously, this stuff is liquid gold. It's an abomination that up until now I've been using jarred salted caramel. I decided I'm going to put it in and on everything I possibly can and as you can see, I started with this pie.
Caramel is just meant to be with apples, so adding it to apple pie was a no-brainer. I thought the pie might turn out super sweet, but it was honestly perfect. The crust was out of this world and I know I call a lot of things out of this world, but it really was. There was one small flaw and that was that it turned out a little runnier than other pies I've made and so I've adjusted the recipe to include a tablespoon of tapioca to firm up the filling.
The only person more excited about this pie than I was is my husband. Since getting married, I've discovered that my husband likes to eat pie. A lot. All the pies. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, you name it. He asks for one any chance that he gets.
I mentioned to you guys in my bio that he loves watching Food Network and he really does, but I recently got him hooked on MasterChef (btw hooray Dino won!!) and he loves how extra the judges act, particularly how they examine the food. So, he did like a little spiel on the pie as he was eating and I promise next time I will record it on video because it was hilarious.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Yield: One 9 inch pie

Ingredients:

For the crust:
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (20 tablespoons), cold and cubed
1/3 cup ice water

For the salted caramel:
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1/2 tablespoon fleur de sel

For the pie filling:
4 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced ( I used a mixture of Honeycrisp and Gala)
3/4 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon instant tapioca
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the egg wash:
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

For the dough:
To the bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add cold, cubed butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add ice water, pulsing after each addition, until dough starts to stick together. Remove the dough from the food processor and divide it into two round disks. Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or up to 3 days.

For the salted caramel:
Add sugar in an even layer to the bottom of a medium saucepan. Whisk the sugar as you heat it over medium-high heat. It will start to melt and form clumps, do not worry. This is normal. Continue whisking and the sugar will melt down completely. Once the sugar is completely melted, it will start to deepen in color. When it turns a deep amber color, add the room temperature butter and whisk swiftly to incorporate. Remove caramel from the heat and slowly pour in the cream, whisking continuously. Add in fleur de sel and whisk until incorporated. Allow the sauce to cool for 15 minutes, then pour it into a glass jar and set aside to cool at room temperature.

Remove one disk of dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 12 inch circle. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate and press it onto the bottom and up the sides. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the pie filling:
In a large bowl, mix the apple slices with lemon juice, then drain. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, tapioca, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Toss the apples with the spice mixture to combine.

Remove the dough-lined pie plate from the fridge and layer the apple slices into the plate, drizzling the caramel sauce over each layer of apples you add.

Remove the second disk of dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 12 inch circle. At this point, you may either place the dough directly on top of the apples, or create a lattice pie crust, cut-out pie crust, etc. Whichever method you choose, crimp the edges of the pie dough, then place it into the freezer for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the egg wash by whisking together whole egg and water. Prior to baking, brush the top of the pie with egg wash, and optionally, sprinkle with sugar. Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker