The old torn up cookbook has no publishing date on it, but it had to have been produced when home economics teachers were a big part of the regular school curriculum. Those days are long gone, and with them many of the treasured recipes that they undoubtedly shared with students like this Praline Apple Pie. The cookbook is called Our Favorite Desserts from Home Economics Teachers and includes 2000 desserts submitted and tested by teachers from all over the US and Canada. Wow, where to begin? So, I started with the “A’s” and this fantastic and unique apple pie recipe jumped out at me. As if a good home made apple pie isn’t scrumptious enough, this one has a glazed caramel topping that enrobes the pecans and gets poured all over the top of the pie after it’s cooked. The recipe calls for mace, which is the outer covering of the nutmeg seed. It’s a bit sweeter and milder that nutmeg, but if you don’t have mace, nutmeg will work just fine. (Grinding the nutmeg fresh is always so much more flavorful than the pre-ground variety). I have to thank my friends Linda and Luther Bruce of Paradise Valley for the phone call I always love getting, “Jan! We found some old cookbooks and I knew you’d put them to good use!” You better believe I will. Enjoy this twist on the all -American favorite!
| Servings |
- 8 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 small lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon mace or nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 deep dish unbaked pie crust (homemade or store bought)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream or half and half
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans, plus whole pecans for decorating
Ingredients For the Pie:
For the Praline Topping:
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle one pie shell with 2 teaspoons sugar and bake for about 10 minutes or until shell is light golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside. In a large Dutch oven or pot, combine apple slices, butter, brown sugar, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, mace or nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Over medium high heat, cook apples until soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Pour apples into baked pie shell. Cover apples with second unbaked pie shell, crimping around the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until top crust is golden brown. While pie is baking, make praline topping. In a medium saucepan, heat butter. Stir in brown sugar and cream. Slowly bring to a boil then remove from heat. Stir in pecans. Spread over top of pie and brush edges of pie with caramel mixture. Return to oven and cook for 5 minutes or until topping bubbles and top is richly glazed. Cool at least one hour before serving.
