By: Ethan Haque
The season of love is upon us! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner this would make a perfect gift for anyone who is wanting to surprise their loved ones with a delicious and heartfelt morsel that takes after the symbol of love a rose.
Valentine’s Day is a celebracion of those we love and what better way to make your loved ones feel like they’re loved than cooking something from the heart.
The traditional flavors associated with late winter and early spring is more of a upbeat taste that can be considered refreshing and light. Not to overwhelm the taste buds, but be a symphony that has simple, robust flavors that work together to form a wonderful taste.
A fun, yet simple recipe is to bake a pie in the shape of a rosebud with a thick powerful caramel that is only needed in soupcon quantities for its powerful taste.
The ingredients to make the this are as follows: 5 granny smith apples, but any apples may be substituted for a slightly altered flavor, 1 lemon, 1⁄2 cup of granulated sugar, 1⁄2 cup of brown sugar or dark brown sugar for a much stronger taste, 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice, 1⁄4 cup heavy cream, and 1 premade pie dough.
Have a large bowl of water handy to squeeze the lemon to stop the oxidation of the cut apples so they retain the crispness and color. Peel the apples and place in the bowl of water, then working one by one, start cutting the four sides off and discarding the core. Cut each of the apple moons into thin slices this is important to create the rosebud shape later. Continue to do this with all apples and make sure that they are submerged in the lemon solution.
At this point in a separate bowl combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix thoroughly until all dry ingredients are well incorporated together. Then take the sliced apples and place them in a new dry bowl add in the dry ingredients and mix through, making sure to coat all apples evenly. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour.
Now, take the pie dough and place it into the pie tin or even better a cast-iron pan that holds heat quite evenly. Prick with a fork through the bottom of the pie dough and refrigerate until extremely solid. This should take about 25 to 40 minutes.
Move quickly for this step remove the apples and squeeze with hands to remove excess moisture. Place in separate large bowl and save the liquid because that will become the delicious caramel. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
Start taking the thinly cut apple slices and layer them going from the outside and working your way in. Like a spiral almost and once at the center take a slice of apple and fold it into a circle and place in the center to give the entire pie the look of a rosebud. Cover the top of the baking apparatus with foil and cook for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes uncovered. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes resulting in a beautiful looking pie.
In a saucepan using the liquid, saved from earlier, we can bring that to a boil and reduce it by quite a large sum resulting in a thick sauce and that should take no more than 10-15 minutes and then add the heavy whipping cream to get a strong yet delightful topping.
Now pour the caramel over the pie and you’re ready to serve. Best served with extremely cold ice cream and whipped cream to finish off the entire pie.
