salted a la mode

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• crust:
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed
• 3/4 cup shortening, chilled and cubed
• 1 teaspoon diamond crystal® fine sea salt
• 6 tablespoons ice-cold water, or more as needed
• filling:
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon diamond crystal® fine sea salt
• 8 red delicious apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
• topping:
• 1 (11 ounce) package caramels, unwrapped
• 1 tablespoon water, or more as needed
• vanilla ice cream
• diamond crystal® coarse sea salt

Recipe

• blend flour and 1 teaspoon diamond crystal® fine sea salt in mixing bowl. cut shortening into flour mixture using a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. sprinkle ice water over the top, 1 tablespoon at a time. mix gently with a fork after each addition until dough holds together. divide the dough into 2 pieces; one a little larger than the other. flatten into round disks, wrap in plastic film, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• put apple slices in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon extract. combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, diamond crystal® fine sea salt in a small bowl. sprinkle sugar mixture over apples and mix to distribute evenly.
• preheat oven to 425 degrees f (220 degrees c).
• lightly flour flat rolling surface. roll out the larger disk until it is 2 inches bigger than the pie plate. carefully place crust into bottom of pie plate, and press evenly into bottom and sides. pierce the botton with a fork several times. fill bottom crust with filling and dot with butter pats.
• roll out top crust and carefully place over top. fold bottom crust edge over top and flute. cut 2 to 4 slits in top. cover edges of crust with aluminum foil.
• bake for 50 minutes. remove foil for the last 15 minutes. cool on rack. serve warm, if desired.
• make topping just before serving. place caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. add 1 tablespoon of water. heat for 1 minute at a time on high stirring after each time until caramels are creamy, but no more than 3 minutes. add additional water, if needed, to get desired consistency.
• top slices of pie with your favorite vanilla ice cream. drizzle caramel sauce over ice cream and pie. then sprinkle a pinch of diamond crystal® coarse sea salt over the caramel sauce.