SALTED CARAMEL PIE

SALTED CARAMEL PIE

When the air turns crisp, and the mornings and evenings require a light weight jacket, I always seem to get a little more excited to see autumn return.  With it, come the fantastic flavors of fall.  Mouthwatering apple, cinnamon, and caramel seem to swirl in the air with the color-changed leaves, and it’s like visiting with an old friend.  So, here we are!  Back in the throws of the change of the seasons, and ushering in one of my personal favorite times of year:  Fall!

Now, I realize many people aren’t always happiest at this time of year because it means winter is just around the corner, and those carefree summer days have come to a close.  However, think of all those delightful flavors and seasonal favorites that come with the colder weather!  One of which is a personal favorite of mine, which is caramel! 

Caramel is a fantastic little conceit that’s really nothing more than nearly burned sugar.  And where it may seem like a pain to make, it really actually isn’t.  Particularly if you’re using it with a pie.  One of my favorite guilty pleasures is the salted variety, which leant itself very nicely to this recipe for Salted Caramel Pie.  In search of the perfect recipe, I found one from Carrie Cusick, a contributing editor for Food & Wine Magazine.  Some of the steps are a little fussy, and the filling will need a little babysitting, but the work is worth it.  Particularly if you enjoy it with a nice cup of coffee, tea, or hot cider.

SALTED CARAMEL PIE:

For Pretzel Pie Crust:

·         1 1/4 Cups Pretzels, Ground

·         4 Tbs. Unsalted Butter, Melted

·         1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar

For Salted Caramel Filling:

·         Two 14-ounce Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

·         Kosher Salt or Sea Salt

·         2 Cups Heavy Cream

·         2 Tbs. Powdered Sugar

·         2 Tbs. Caramel Sundae Topping (Optional)

·         ¼ Cup Heath Bar Pieces (Optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a food processor, grind your pretzels to a near meal consistency.  Mix the pretzel crumbs with the melted butter and light brown sugar until the crumbs are moistened. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with baking spray, and press the mixture evenly into the pie plate. Bake for about 10 minutes, just until lightly browned. Let cool. Increase the oven temperature to 425°.

Scrape the condensed milk into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish and sprinkle with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher or Sea Salt. Cover the dish with foil and place it in a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the baking dish.

**NOTE:  If you do NOT own a roasting pan that will accommodate a 9-by-13 pan, you can substitute 2 loaf pans instead for the condensed milk, and place them in the 9-by-13 baking dish with the water as directed.

Bake the condensed milk, lifting the foil to stir 2 or 3 times until the condensed milk is golden and thickened, about 2 hours; add more water to the roasting pan as necessary. The consistency of the caramel should be like dulce de leche. Don’t worry if it is lumpy; it will smooth out as it chills.

Scrape the caramel filling into the pie crust, smoothing the top. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with vegetable oil spray and cover the pie. Refrigerate until the filling is chilled and set, at least 4 hours.

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream with the confectioners’ sugar until firm. Remove the plastic from the pie. Mound a small amount of the whipped cream on top of the pie and spread to the edges.  Drizzle with the caramel sundae topping sprinkle with a very small amount of salt.  Garnish with piped whipped cream around the edges and center,  Sprinkle with Heath Bar candy pieces if desired.