A little bit of caramel makes anything taste better and in the case of this pie, it elevates it from a humble apple pie to a spectacular apple pie. The key is to restrain the sugar and let the caramel do it’s own sweet thing. Gobbled up by family and a little toddler who is just a touch sweeter than the caramel.

I decided to use a few varieties of apples which created a lovely blend of tart, sweet flavors mingled with nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. The warmth of the spices along with the buttery caramel.. hmmm.

Ingredients:

Apples – approximately 7 of them, a few granny smith, 1-2 pink ladys, braeburn or any firm apple

a pink of ground nutmeg and cloves

One tsp of ground cinnamon

1/2 – 3/4 cup of white granulated sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Prebaked pie crust – any kind you like, I use graham cracker crust and also use a boxed or homemade pie crust for the lattice on top

Caramel either home made or store brought

Directions:

Put on some holiday music, and make yourself a cup of hot tea.

Preheat the oven to 400 degree’s.  Peel and core the apples and slice them. Place apples in a large bowl and add the sugar, spices,and lemon juice. Combine till all the apples are coated with sugar and spice. Pour over the pie crust. Drizzle a few teaspoons of caramel sauce (2 for less sweet, did I already say there is no such thing as too much caramel?). Make a lattice on top and bake for 30-40 minutes till its golden and bubbly.