Classic apple pies are great, but sometimes you want the flavor of an apple pie, but you want to change up the presentation. This “deconstructed apple pie” couldn’t be easier to make—it includes a store-bought crust, after all. And that splash of bourbon is optional, if bourbon isn’t your thing.
Listen: Chef Plum shared this recipe in a conversation with Amy Traverso, author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook. If you’re an apple lover, you’ll want to listen to the episode.
Chef Plum's Inside Out Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 7 apples, preferably Granny Smith
- 2 tbsp butter divided
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp bourbon
- 3/4 cup water
- store bought pie crust (Cooked according to directions, in a big circle)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the tops off 4 apples and hollow them out with a spoon.
- Slice remaining apples, these do not have to be perfect, just avoid the core.
- In a hot saute pan, add 1 tbsp of butter. As it melts, add the apples and toss a few times.
- Add the sugars to pan along with the vanilla, salt and cinnamon.
- Cook the apples in the mixture, and as the apples begin to brown and soften, add the bourbon and toss.
- Simmer for a minute or so then add the water, allowing the water to slowly evaporate as you toss or mix the apples frequently.
- Take the apples off the heat, add the remaining butter, and allow to cool a little and the butter to melt.
- Place the hollowed apples on a sheet pan, sprinkle a little sugar inside each one and roast in the oven for 10 minutes or so, the inside of the apples should be hot.
- Remove the apples from the oven and spoon in the cooked apple mixture inside the hollow apples. Reserve some of the juice in the pan for garnishing. Place the stuffed apples back into the oven. Roast till the apples start to bubble.
- Remove the apples. Finish by placing a stuffed apple on a plate, break off large pieces of crust and stick the crust pieces into the apple. Using a spoon, drizzle a little liquid from the apple pan on the plate.
Notes
Chef Plum is the host of Seasoned, along with Marysol Castro. He is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and has over 25 years of culinary experience. He has been a private chef and caterer for more than a decade.