Bakin’ With Bacon And The King

Ahhh!  We meet again – here in my kitchen at the Castle Baconia

Yes this is the place where bacon is King – oh wait – I’m King aren’t I – bacon is just my FAVORITE SUBJECT!     Well today I am sharing with you an incredible dessert – maybe even Thanksgiving-worthy.    It’s just so yummy you simply HAVE to have it some time soon and impress everyone with how delicious it is.    It does call for some kitchen equipment that might not be found in your cupboard…..spring form pan and some folks don’t have a food processor but you all are CLEVER enough to know there’s always a way around road blocks like that.    YOU CAN FIGURE IT ALL OUT!     It has a lot of steps – most of the time I give you pretty easy recipes and this one is tougher but again YOU CAN FIGURE IT ALL OUT!

Ready?

Caramelized Maple Apple Pie with Candied Bacon Crumble

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie
• 10 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• ½ lemon, juiced
• ¼ cup butter
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Crumble:

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place bacon on a baking sheet and sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar over the top.

2. Bake in the preheated oven until crisp, 10 to 20 minutes.

3. Line a 9-inch spring form pan with pie crust pastry; refrigerate.

4. Combine apples and lemon juice in a bowl and toss to coat.

5. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat; add maple syrup and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until mixture is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Carefully add apples and stir well to coat. Cook until apples just start to soften and get a bit of color on them, about 5 minutes. Return the apples to the bowl leaving behind the sweet syrup.

   Stir vinegar into sweet syrup; simmer until syrup is reduced and consistency of maple syrup, about 5 minutes. Carefully pour syrup over the apples. Cool for 10 minutes.

6. Combine flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor; pulse until crumbly. Break bacon into pieces, add to food processor, and pulse until combined with the crumble.

7. Tip apples into the pie crust in the spring form pan. Fold dough over part of the apple filling to form an edge. Crimp the edges between your fingers. Top the apple filling with the crumble. Brush crust with cream and top with white sugar.

8. Bake pie in the preheated oven until the juices bubble and the crust is deeply golden, about 1 hour. If the crust starts to brown too quickly turn the oven down to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

We’re watching!  We know you can do this – and the reward is a SCRUMPTIOUS PIE!

You’re going to love this pie…..I promise……I’m your King – would I tell you a fib?

Your King