Many years ago while I was working at an advertising agency as a graphic designer we had a salesman visit the office hocking cookbooks. These weren’t just any cookbooks, these were full color with a photo of every recipe! That was a big flippin’ deal back then in the, uh-huh, the 90’s. Yeah, we’ll just say the 90’s. See, I was told when I graduated from art school that I would be lucky to work on any “four-color” work. It was just too expensive to produce for most companies.
So, imagine our delight when this salesman happened upon our little office and sold nearly every woman in there one of those cookbooks. Ya know, we were office workers. We loved to eat! Who’d have thought way back then that I would be sitting at a computer producing colorful images of my own food 20-some years later? It’s weird for me to even think about … We had no idea …
I’ve made so many recipes from that cookbook and I still have it to this day. The food styling was ahead of its time and the images are still quite relevant, even if they do have somewhat of a 90’s look to them. I still love it. The Topsy Turvy pie recipe is one that made me keep the book all these years. Even though I don’t use the actual recipe anymore (being gluten-free and all), instead I created my own using the concept. I mean pecans, caramel and apples … it’s the perfect fall dessert.
Basically, you’re going to start with putting the butter, pecans and brown sugar in the bottom of the pie pan, then building a double crust pie overtop of that. It’s pretty simple, really. And, as it turned out, quite beautiful even if you don’t flip the thing over! I couldn’t resist photographing it. I mean, look at that perfect gluten-free crust!
I discovered something while perfecting this recipe … King Arthur gluten-free flour is amazing! That’s what I used to make this pie crust and I have to say, you will not ever know that it’s not a wheat crust. I guarantee you can fool old Uncle Harry and Great Grandma Helen with this thing. They will.never.know.
A few notes on this:
• I used an 8″ pie plate – an old fashioned one. If you’re using a larger pie plate, increase everything but the crust by 20%, that way you make sure to have enough caramel underneath and apples inside.
• The best ingredients make the best pie. I used butter from grass-fed cows and soaked/dried pecans. I also use organic apples because they’re one of the most sprayed crops.
• I always egg wash my crust and sprinkle with sugar. It’s just a beautiful way to finish off the top of a pie and make it a little more tasty.
• When transferring the pie crust to the pie plate, I use a flexible cutting board. The crust will stick to the plastic wrap keeping it intact as you flip it over. It may take you a few tries to perfect the flip but good thing is … this pie is VERY forgiving, especially when you take a bite of it!
• I added some extra caramel to the top of the pie for the photo by combining equal amounts of brown sugar and butter in a saucepan and heating it until the sugar was dissolved. While it does create it’s own caramel, we are just caramel freaks and need more.
Now … onto the recipe!
- 1 unbaked gluten-free pie crust for a 2-crust pie
- 3 T. butter, softened
- Enough whole pecans to decorate the bottom of the pie plate, remember to place them upside-down
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
- juice from ½ lemon
- 1 Tbls. all purpose gluten-free flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten well, for egg wash
- Course sugar to sprinkle
- Preheat oven to 350˚.
- Spread softened butter on bottom of pie plate and thinly up the sides.
- Press pecans into the butter, arranging them as desired.
- Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and press flat.
- Place bottom pie crust in pie plate overtop brown sugar, allowing edges to hang over.
- Combine apple slices, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and flour. Mix gently.
- Place apple mixture into pie shell making sure not to leave many gaps or holes. It should be packed as flat as possible and gently mounded in the center.
- With a pastry brush, brush water around the outside edge of the pie shell.
- Gently place top pie crust over apples, patting the crust snugly to fit and pressing the outside rims together.
- Trim off the excess crust leaving about ½" crust to hang over the outside rim. Pinch the edges together.
- Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
- Carefully cut a few vent holes in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
- Bake at 350˚ for about 50 minutes or until evenly golden brown.
- Remove from oven and immediately invert onto your pie plate.
- Carefully, by holding the inverted plate above the pie, flip the pie over with the plate lightly securing it as it is flipped.
- Scrape out any remaining caramel, replacing any pecans that might remain in the pan.
- Serve warm. With just about anything. Like coffee ... or ice cream ... or raw milk ... or ...
1 comment
Looks so good. I never had apple pie with caramel, thanks for sharing