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Dulce de Leche Apple Pie

Julia Frey of Vikalinka
This dulce de leche apple pie is a fun and delicious twist on the classic.
5 from 4 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Chilling Time 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

For the pastry

  • 5 ½ cups/770g all purpose flour(plain flour in UK)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1lbs/454g lard
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 egg
  • ice water

For the apple filling

  • 6 apples firm and large
  • ⅔ cup/130g white sugar see notes
  • 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 125ml/1/2 cup dulce de leche/Carnation caramel see notes
  • ¼cup/30g flour
  • 1 egg for brushing beaten

Instructions
 

For the pastry

  • This recipe makes enough for 3 X 8 inch double crust pies or 2 X 9 inch pies and 1 single crust. Mix together flour and salt. Cut in lard with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. In a measuring cup (250ml) combine vinegar and egg. Add ice water to make 1 cup. Gradually stir liquid into flour and lard mixture. You might need to add a little more cold water to make the pastry dough come together. Do not overmix.( If you think you have a perfectly shaped dough you’ve probably gone too far.)
  • Divide into 3 equal parts, and press them into disks, wrap them in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to chill or a freezer if you are intending to use the other two pie crusts later.

For the apple filling

  • Peel and core your apples and slice them thinly. In a large mixing bowl combine sliced apples, sugar, cinnamon, flour and dulce de leche. Make sure dulce de leche evenly coats the apples.

To assemble and bake the pie

  • Preheat your oven to 400F/200C. Take 1 out of the 3 chilled pastry disks out of the fridge. The bottom crust needs more pastry than the top. To make the bottom crust roll out ⅔ of the pastry on a floured surface into a circle big enough to fit into a 9 inch pie plate.
  • Drape it on a rolling pin and carefully transfer the pie crust into a 9 inch pie plate. Make sure your pie crust hangs over the edges a little bit, which will help to bring the bottom and the top crust together. Fill your pie crust with the apple mixture.
  • To prepare the top crust roll out the remaining pastry on a floured surface and cut out little shapes with a pastry/cookie cutter. (I used an apple cookie cutter but you can you use anything you love, that fits the autumnal theme, or just little rounds will do.)
  • Brush the pastry, that covers the rim of your pie plate, with an egg wash. Start placing the little pastry cutouts on the outer row making sure they are connected to the edges of the bottom crust, overlapping them slightly and brushing each circle with an egg wash. This will ensure that individual cutout “apples” stick to each other. It will also give your pie an attractive shiny and golden finish. It’s okay to leave little space betweens the pastry “apples” as it will act as slits and will allow the pie to ventilate while baking. Once you finished the first row, continue the same way until the whole pie is covered. 
  • Put the pie in the oven on the lower rack and place a large baking sheet/pan to catch the drips from the pie to eliminate a lot of mess in the oven.  Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375F/190C and bake for 40-50 minutes until the crust is golden and the apples are soft.

Notes

  1. Increase or reduce the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness of the apples used. 
  2. Use store bought Dulce de Leche or make your own by boiling a can of sweetened and condensed milk in water for 1.5-2 hours. Make sure the can is fully submerged in water all all times. 
  3. If your apples are very ripe, it will take less time to cook but it might take longer if your apples are hard. In this case, loosely cover your pie with some foil and continue baking until the apples are tender all the way through. (Test with a knife for doneness, they should pierce easily).
  4. This apple pie recipe will also work if you choose to omit the dulce de leche. Simply increase your amount of sugar to 1 cup/200g. 
Keyword apple pie, caramel apple pie
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