Carmel Cream Praline Apple Pie
Emeril’s Thanksgiving Contest 2000
Good Morning America

Ingredients for Crust:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions for crust:
1. Combine flour and salt in 1 quart sized bowl. Combine in a 2-cup
measuring cup milk and baking powder. Add canola oil to the milk
mixture. Pour liquids into flour mixture.
2. With fork, stir until just blended and form a ball. Divide into 2 balls
to make crust. Use one ball for the bottom crust. For best results, roll
out between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Save the other ball for a
later pie.
3. When crust circle is large enough to fit into a 9 inch Pyrex pie plate.
Fold in half, remove bottom piece of plastic wrap and position in half
of the pie plate and unfold to fit evenly into a pie plate. Press in and
remove top layer of plastic wrap. Fold crust edges under and flute
edges. Set aside.

Ingredients for Praline filling:
8 apples (Macintosh, Jonathan, Granny Smith
or favorite baking apple)
2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy sweet cream

Directions for filling:
1. Peel, core and slice apples and place in a large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and flour.
Place on stove over medium heat, stir until mixture bubbles. Add
heavy cream. Stir constantly until mixture returns to a boil.
Remove from heat.
3. Pour over sliced apples until coated and set aside.

Ingredients for Caramelized Pecan and Crumb Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions for Caramelized Pecan and Crumb Topping:
1. Put nuts, sugar and butter in small sauté pan over medium heat
and stir until caramelized.
2. Remove from heat and pour out on parchment paper to cool.

Ingredients for Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar

Directions for Crumb Topping:
Cut in all three ingredients with pie blender to make a coarse
crumb consistency.

Directions for pie:
1. Pour coated apples into prepared crust.
2. Sprinkle caramelized pecans over apples.
3. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples and caramelized pecans.
4. Place a tinfoil tent over pie to prevent top and crusts from becoming
too brown before apples are tender in the middle. Place in a 325-degree
oven. Bake for 1 hour. Remove tin foil tent last 10 minutes of baking
if a browner crust is desired. Cool on wire rack completely.

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

Recipe courtesy of Marsha Brooks, Emeril's Apple Pie Contest winner, 2001

Ingredients:

  1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie 9-inch (homemade or store-bought)
  1/2 cup sugar

  3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  1/8 tsp salt

  6 cups thinly-sliced peeled apples (You may need more if your family sits by the bowl and sneaks the sliced applies when you are not looking); Marsha likes to use golden delicious and fuji apples.
  1 recipe crumb topping (see below)
  1/2 cup chopped pecans
  1/4 cup caramel topping

Ingredients for crumb topping:
  1 cup packed brown sugar
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
  1/2 cup butter

Directions for Crumb Topping:

1.  Stir together brown sugar, flour and rolled oats.

2.  Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

Directions:

1.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

2.  Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.

3.  Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell. (I remove the store-bought pie shell from the aluminum pie plate and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate of my own, but you do not have to.)

4.  Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.

5.  Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven.

6.  Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil.

7.  Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil.

8.  Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans then drizzle with caramel on top.

9.  Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature.