Apple Pie

There is nothing better than your house filling up
with the aroma of delicious homemade apple pie.  Oh man does it smell good in my house, forget about candles I'm just going to make pie whenever I want my house to smell like christmas.  So for this delicious apple pie, we  procured our apples from an orchard in Aomori Japan.  We recently went on an apple picking tour and had the chance to pick apples at a local orchard and eat as many as we could before our picking time was up.  I have no clue what's in the soil here in Japan. But these are some massive apples!
It took only 3 to fill the pie; talk about your giant apples.


Apple Pie
Adapted from Tikkido

Ingredients for Crust

4 cups flour
1 1/3 cups cold butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 table spoon cinnamon
12 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons vodka

Directions

- Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Next using a sharp knife cut your butter into small grape sized cubes and add it to the flour mixture
- In a separate small bowl combine your cold water and vodka
- Using your hands mix and squish the butter and flour together for a couple of minutes.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water mixture to your flour and combine with your hands
- Keep adding water 2 tablespoons at a time until you start forming a ball of dough.
- You most likely will not need to use all of the water to make the dough, just keep adding 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough starts forming.
- Once you get a ball of dough, flour a flat smooth surface and divide your dough in half.
- Roll out half of your dough large enough to fill a pie pan.  cut away excess dough from the edge of your pie pan
- Save the other half of your dough when you are ready to add it to the top of your pie. put the crust and dough into the fridge until your ready to add your apples

Ingredients for Filling

3 large apples or if you dont have mutan apples like mine 4-5 apples any kind
1/2 sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold butter

Directions

- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
- peel and slice your apples and add it to a large bowl
- Drizzle your lemon juice over apple slices and combine (i used my hands to mix the apples)
- add your sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg to the apples and mix
- add the flour and mix into your apples
- Add your apple mixture
- slice your cold butter and add it to the top of the apples
- roll out the other half of your dough and top your pie.
- cut off excess dough from the edges and using your fingers pinch together the top and bottom dough around the rim together forming a ruffle effect.
- Slice a few vent holes in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape while baking
- Bake for 40 minutes, once done allow to cool on a wire rack. once cool enough transfer to fridge to allow the juice to firm up and thicken.  serve with some vanilla ice cream and whip cream

Carmel Apple Pie Cupcakes

For the last month I've been cookin up ideas to make a carmel apple cupcake and when the time came to make a batch, something always came up.  Usually that something was work, cub scouts, homework, or hiking the Hakkoda Mountians.  I finally decided enough was enough, time to get into the kitchen and I will not leave until I have my Carmel Apple Pie Cupcakes.

After making alot of cupcakes I decided it was time to try and attempt my luck at making my own batter.  I wanted to infuse the cupcake with apple flavor without adding chopped apples, because the apples were going to be cooked into something like apple pie filling for the middle of the cupcake.  It took a couple of tries but I finally produced an oishii cupcake with a great apple flavor.  I'll be honest there are a few steps to this cupcake and it takes a little time, but it was well worth it :) You could always skip a step and buy store bought carmel sauce....though trust me you will be very happy that you made your own.


I also want to give a huge thank you and shout out to Vera from Cupcakesgarden.com
Vera and her husband designed an awesome button for me.  When it comes to web design and anything fancy with computer graphics I am totally out of my realm.   Check out her amazing blog, she highlights the most delicious cupcakes from all over the web from other bloggers.  If you love cupcakes as much as I do then you gotta check it out :)

Carmel Apple Pie Cupcakes 
Oishii Treat Original

Yields: 20 Cupcakes
Ingredients

3/4 cup Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/3 teaspoon Bakin Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup Apple Cider or Apple Juice

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cupcake pans with lineras
- In a electric mixer combine the coconut oil, sugar and brown sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
- In a separate small bowl combine your dry ingredients flour, baking powder, packing soda, salt, and cinnamon
- Alternate your dry ingredients and apple cider to your batter until just combined
- Fill your cupcakes 3/4 full and bake for 15 minutes
- Cool your cupcakes on a wire rack, once cool use a potato peeler to crave/ scoop out a hole in the middle of your cupcakes for the carmel apple pie filling

Salted Butter Carmel Sauce
Adapted From Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Ingredients

1 cup Sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup Whipping Cream




Directions

- In a medium Sauce pot on high heat add your sugar and whisk until it starts to melt and turn golden brown (about 5 min)
- Remove the pot from the heat and add a dash of sea salt and butter, becareful there will be steam!
- Whisk the butter until its melted
- Put the pot back on the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream, whisk until its a uniformed color, reduce the heat the medium low and whisk for 1 minute.
- Take off the heat and pour into a heat proof jar, let it stand for 15 min. to help thicken the sauce   Place the carmel in the fridge to thicken.

Carmel Apple Pie Filling

2 cups diced apples
(2 large apples, diced very small)
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Juice or Apple Juice
1/2 cup Carmel

Directions

- Using the same pot that you made carmel rinse it out place it on the stove on medium high heat.
- Add your juice and diced apples and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently
- After the apples have cooked remove from heat and add your carmel.  place in a heat proof bowl and let the mixture cool in the fridge. Once cool, scoop the apple filling into your cupcake holes.

Carmel Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup Butter (let stand at room temp for 1 hour)
1 8oz container cream cheese (let stand at room temp for 1 hour)
5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup carmel (do not add hot carmel to the frosting)

Directions

- In a electric mixer combine your butter, cream cheese and mix on medium high for 2 minutes
- Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until fully combine and smooth.
- Add your carmel and mix for 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy

Update: I shared this post on several link up parties, so many great recipes were shared clink on the links below to check them out.
http://tidymom.net/
http://myturn-evelyn.blogspot.jp/2012/10/freedom-fridays-23.html
http://www.jamhands.net/