The holidays are upon us and I'm thinking I'm back into my blogging groove.  I don't know what happened there for a couple of weeks . . . I just wasn't really feeling it . . . and when I'm not feeling it, I'm not doing it because this is supposed to be fun, right?  But I'm feeling it again.  The 7th Street Garden fundraiser last Wednesday was a blast.  I made two of these caramelized apple, walnut & chocolate pies along with a few other baked items I'll blog about in the coming days.  Several friends likewise made some great pies—we had plenty for everyone in attendance to stuff themselves.

I've been tweaking my crust recipe for a few months and am really happy with the way these turned out.  I'm sticking with this formulation for the foreseeable future.  This caramelized apple, walnut & chocolate pie was very well received, so I'm keeping it in my holiday pie rotation.  I know it sounds a bit over-the-top . . . and it very well may be . . . in a good way, though.  Caramelizing the apples adds an extra step to the typical fruit pie, but the buttery-sweet-goodness is worth the effort.  I bet the people you feed will rave about this one. 

This recipe makes a single 9-inch pie, so you'll need a 9-inch pie plate.  You'll also need a food processor to make my crust recipe.  I think the key to the crust is putting the butter in the freezer for a bit to get it good and cold—and then putting the dough together quickly, so the butter remains in pieces, rather than melting into the dough.  The small pieces of butter in the dough create little flaky pockets of goodness when the crust is baked.  So, ideally, your finished dough will look like little pieces of butter suspended in flour dough.  Don't worry if it doesn't turn out quite like that the first time.  It takes a little practice.  I've been obsessing on pies a bit in recent months and I'm only, this week, happy with my crust.  Enjoy!

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 tablespoons ice water
• 1 large egg white*, beaten

1. An hour or so before beginning to make the dough, place the butter and shortening in your freezer.
2. Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine.
3. Add the shortening and process for about 10 seconds.
4. Distribute the butter on the flour mixture and pulse about 10 times, until the mixture has the texture of coarse crumbs with butter pieces the size of small peas.
5. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of ice water and mix gently with a spatula until the dough comes together.  If the dough doesn't come together, add another tablespoon of water, mix, and then another if necessary.
6. Flatten into a 4-inch disc, wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to two days.
7. Roll into a circle 3-4 inches wider than the pie plate on a lightly-floured surface or between two pieces of parchment paper, then line the pie plate, folding the edge under itself and crimping to make a fluted edge.
8. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
9. Brush the crust with the beaten egg white right before filling and baking.

For the filling:

• 1.5 cups golden brown sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), diced
• 4 apples*, peeled, cored & quartered
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs*
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Over medium heat on the stove top, combine the brown sugar and butter in a dutch over or other ovenproof cooking vessel until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil for a minute, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and arrange apples in the mixture.  Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the apples and continue baking until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes longer.  Then remove the apples from the mixture and set both aside.  Allow the mixture to cool a bit.  Leave the oven on.
4. Mix sugar, flour, and salt in small bowl.
5. In a medium bowl, gradually whisk the slightly cooled sugar/butter mixture into the eggs, then add the corn syrup and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
6. Pour the filling into crust, scatter walnuts and arrange the apples in the filling and top with chocolate.
7. Bake the pie until the filling is set in the center, about 1 hour and 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature.