Cider-Caramel Apple Pie with a Cheddar Crust
- Yield
- 8 servings
Most apple pies hide a gap: the apples shrink in the oven and leave the top crust domed over air. We cook the filling first, in cider boiled down to a dark caramel, so the slices shrink in the pot instead of under the lid, and the pie tastes of apples twice. Then sharp cheddar goes into the crust, a pairing associated with New England that sounds odd until salt and tang meet sweet fruit. Tart apples bring the backbone, cider caramel the depth, lemon the lift, cheddar the savory edge and demerara the crackle on top.
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Ingredients
Batches and reset
8 servings · US measures · 1 batch
Batching
Bake one pie in each deep 9-inch dish; for a larger yield, bake a second pie. A half pie is not offered. Oven temperature, baking time and cooling time do not multiply with ingredient quantities.
Original recipe: 8 servings.
The optional milk for brushing and any extra lemon juice are left out of the nutrition estimate. Nutrition uses the listed refrigerated crusts without deducting trimmed edges; the apple cider, cheddar and demerara sugar are not yet in the estimate.
Before you start
- Read through the recipe before the stove goes on. Gather the Dutch oven, baking sheet, pie dish, rolling pin, bowls, paring knife, pastry brush, foil, wire rack and the measured ingredients.
Directions
Measure everything and warm the crusts
For the whole recipe
Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything, putting the sliced apples in the large bowl, and let the pie crusts warm on the counter as the package directs so they unroll without cracking. Everything is prepared and measured before the stove goes on.
Mix the spiced sugar
For each pie
Stir about 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg and 1/2 tsp lemon zest in the small bowl until evenly mixed.
Toss the apples in lemon
For each pie
Toss about 7 cups apples with 2 tsp fresh lemon juice in the large bowl. The apples are evenly coated with lemon.
Taste a slice and adjust
For each pie
Taste a slice. Aim for crisp and pleasantly tart-sweet. If the apples taste flat or very sweet, toss in fresh lemon juice to taste. The apples are evenly coated with lemon.
House call: use more than one kind of apple
A firm, tart apple holds its slices and keeps the pie sharp; a sweeter, softer one slumps into a natural sauce around them. A mix gives you both, and the taste test tells you how much lemon the blend needs.
Boil the cider down to caramel
For each pie
Boil about 2 cups apple cider in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven over high heat, swirling the pot now and then, until it has reduced by about three-quarters and turned dark amber and syrupy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Watch it closely near the end; it goes from syrup to scorched quickly.
Why it works: apples twice
Boiling drives the water out of the cider and browns its sugar, so what's left tastes like concentrated apple with a caramel edge. Folded into the filling, it puts a second, deeper apple flavor under the fresh fruit.
If it goes wrong: the syrup smells burnt
It went a few seconds too far. Start again with fresh cider; scorched syrup makes the whole pie bitter, and no amount of sugar or spice hides it.
Cook the apples in the caramel
For each pie
Lower the heat to medium, add 1 tbsp unsalted butter and let it melt into the syrup. Add the apples with any juice in the bowl and the sugar mixture, and cook, stirring gently, until the slices are just tender at the edges but still hold their shape and the juices turn thick and glossy, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Why it works: no gap under the lid
Apples shrink as they cook. Doing that shrinking in the pot means the filling stays packed under the top crust instead of sinking in the oven and leaving a hollow dome.
If it goes wrong: the slices are turning to sauce
Pull the pot off the heat and spread the filling on the baking sheet right away; piled up and hot, the slices keep cooking. A few soft ones melt into the syrup, and that's fine.
Spread the filling out to cool
For each pie
Spread the filling and all its syrup on the rimmed baking sheet and let it cool until it is no longer warm to the touch, about 30 minutes.
Heat the oven with the rack low
For each pie
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with a rack in the lower third. The oven is fully heated.
Press cheddar into the crusts
For each pie
Unroll both refrigerated pie crusts, sprinkle 3 oz sharp cheddar evenly over them and roll over each one lightly with the rolling pin to press the cheese into the dough. The cheese is pressed in and the rounds are still the same size.
Tradition: apple pie and cheddar
A wedge of sharp cheddar with apple pie is a pairing associated with New England. We press the cheese into the crust instead, so every bite gets a little salt and tang against the sweet fruit.
Swap: your own crust for the store-bought rounds
The ready-made crust is a shortcut, not a rule. An all-butter crust with the grated cheddar worked into the flour tastes richer and browns deeper. Same dish, more of your hands in it.
Ease in the bottom crust
For each pie
Fit one cheddar crust into the deep 9-inch pie dish, cheese side up, easing it into the corners without stretching. The crust lines the dish with the edge hanging slightly over the rim.
Pack in the filling and every drop of syrup
For each pie
Spoon the cooled filling into the crust, mounding it slightly in the center, and scrape in every bit of the syrup. The filling is mounded and level with the rim at the edges.
Seal, vent and sugar the top
For each pie
Cover the filling with the second cheddar crust, cheese side down, trim the overhang, press the edges together and crimp them to seal. Cut several steam vents in the top, brush it with 4 tbsp whole milk, if using, and sprinkle with 1 tbsp demerara sugar. The pie is sealed and vented.
Technique: cheese toward the filling
On the top crust the cheese faces down, so it melts into the pastry instead of scorching under the oven's heat. Demerara's big crystals stay crunchy where fine sugar would melt into the glaze.
Bake until the juices bubble thick
For each pie
Bake on the lower third rack at 425°F until the crust is deep golden and the juices bubble thickly through the vents, about 40 to 50 minutes. If the edges brown too fast, cover them with strips of foil.
Wait, then slice
For the whole recipe
Cool the pie on the wire rack until the filling has set and the bottom of the dish feels barely warm, so the juices thicken. Cut it into 8 servings. Cover leftovers and refrigerate them within two hours of serving. The pie is cut and served.
Make ahead: split the work
The cider and the filling are the slow parts; get them done and cooling while you clear the counter, then the crusts go together quickly. A pie that has cooled completely slices cleaner than a warm one.
Make it yours: from safe to wild
Safe: vanilla ice cream, or a slice of sharp cheddar on the side to double down. Bolder: pears and fresh ginger in place of the apples, with the same cider caramel. Wild: brush the top with miso melted into butter before the demerara for a salty, savory crackle.
About this recipe
Allergens / Diets
Rebuilt recipe in review. Allergen and diet details are being re-checked.
Research preview: these details come from our sourced research and haven't been reviewed by our chef yet.
Why it works
A little flour in the spiced sugar thickens the apple juices as they bubble, lemon keeps the filling bright, and cooling the pie lets the juices set before slicing.
Associated with
English and American baking
Apple pies were recorded in 14th-century England; in the United States the pie became a national symbol, as in "as American as apple pie".
Taste
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Savory
- Heat
Sweet, tart apples with cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon in a flaky crust. · flaky crust, soft spiced apple slices in syrupy juices · warm
Skill level
Some practice
The crust is ready-made, but fitting, crimping and judging the bake take practice.
Occasions
Independence Day (US)
Apple pie is an American symbol often served on the Fourth of July.
Serving and keeping
Best served: Once the filling has set and the dish is barely warm Cut into 8 servings.
Make ahead: Let the pie cool so the juices set before slicing.
Storage: Cover and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, then refrigerate. Freeze for longer keeping; frozen food stays safe at 0°F, though quality declines over time.
Leftovers: Covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, then in the refrigerator.
Food safety
- Do not taste the raw sugar and flour mixture or raw dough; raw flour is not ready to eat.
- The bubbling juices are very hot; cool the pie on a rack before cutting.
We make no cross-contact statement for home kitchens. Check packaged ingredient labels, especially the crusts.
Nutrition notes
Mostly sugar and refined flour; the apples add some fiber.
The granulated sugar is the added sugar; using about a third less makes a less sweet pie with thinner juices.
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- Recipe url
- https://isthebestrecipe.com/pies/double-crust-apple-pie
- Name
- Cider-Caramel Apple Pie with a Cheddar Crust
- Servings
- 8
- Recipe yield
- 8 servings
- Recipe ingredient
- about 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp lemon zest finely grated, about 7 cups apples a mix of firm-tart and sweeter varieties, such as Granny Smith with Honeycrisp or Braeburn, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (about 6 medium), 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, about 2 cups apple cider fresh, unfiltered and unsweetened, 1 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 whole refrigerated pie crusts ready-to-roll 9-inch rounds; check the label for the fat used, 3 oz sharp cheddar finely grated, 1 tbsp demerara sugar
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