Caramel Apple Pie Blondies

Caramel Apple Pie Blondies

Salted Caramel Apple Blondies

Philosophy of Yum and Brownies:

I have a thing for Brownies. They have changed my life. I guess it’s just the gooey chewiness that gets to me on an emotional level. Then came the Blondie…

Some like to view it as a White Chocolate Brownie, which I suppose is correct, but there is more potential than that. I like to view it as a Vanilla version of a Brownie. A blank canvas receptive to an endless avenue of flavour possibilities!

Realizing that almost ANY cake flavour can be turned into blondies, has been a real game changer.

Brownies and Blondies basically just contain double the fat and double the sugar. Explains why they taste so incredible. I’ve developed a myriad of blondie flavours; Carrot Cake, Earl Grey & Salted Caramel and Red Velvet Brownies to name a few. But my absolute favourite blondies to date are the Salted Caramel Apple Blondies…

They taste like a slow-roasted Apple Pie (if there ever was such a thing)… Like an Apple Pie Brisket if you will. The Salted Caramel takes these Apples to a whole new level. Ground Cinnamon rounds off the flavour perfectly.

They bake for quite a long time, but as I’ve said before – my recipes require a lot of effort, but the result is totally worth it!

Important Notes:

In order to make this recipe, you will need some Salted Caramel. Click here to view the Salted Caramel recipe I posted last week.

Granny Smith Apples really work best for this recipe. You need an apple that keeps its shape during baking. The sharp, slightly sour flavour is also just perfect for this recipe. Other apple varieties, like Golden delicious, are a bit sad in flavour next to the salted caramel and cinnamon.

This might disappoint you, but I find that using a combination of baking Margarine and Butter really works well in Brownies and Blondies… I’m not an ingredient snob. Yumminess is the goal.

If you want to use only butter, go right ahead, but the flavour and texture are so much better when using some margarine. That’s my opinion anyway.

These Caramel Apple Pie Blondies are ridiculously delicious! They have a layer of salted caramel baked onto the bottom and the batter is made with dulce de leche. #applepieblondies #deliciousblondies #caramelapple #appledessert #dulcedeleche

Salted Caramel & Apple Blondies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 80 g Salted Caramel
  • 1 Huge Granny Smith Apple (strictly Granny Smith – it keeps its shape very well and has a potent Apple Flavour)
  • 220 g Cake Flour
  • ½ Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 5 g Salt
  • 100 g Unsalted Butter
  • 100 g Baking Margarine
  • 80 g Dulce de Leche
  • 120 g White Sugar
  • 100 g Demerara Sugar
  • ½ Tbsp Vanilla Extract
  • ⅛ tsp Caramel Extract
  • 2 Jumbo Eggs (135g)
  • 1 Tbsp Salted Butter, Melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 170˚C/340˚F.
  2. Grease and line an 18cm x 27cm (7 inch x 10,5 inch) brownie pan with top quality non-stick baking paper (Wax Paper will not suffice). Not all brownie pans are exactly the same size - an 8 x 8 inch brownie tin will also work just fine.
  3. Melt the salted caramel in the microwave for 20 seconds till it reaches a pouring consistency.
  4. Pour the salted caramel into the greased and lined Pan. Spread it out evenly, so that the bottom of the pan has an even layer of caramel. Set aside.
  5. Sift flour, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl, set aside.
  6. Melt butter and margarine in mixing bowl in the microwave for 3.5mins. It must boil before you continue.
  7. Mix in sugars and dulce de leche on low speed with paddle attachment for about 30 seconds. Return to the microwave for 40 seconds. Mix again on low speed for 30 seconds. The sugars should stick to the paddle slightly when you lift it out of the mixture. This means the sugar has dissolved slightly.
  8. In a medium sized bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and caramel extract. Add to butter and sugar mixture and mix for 10 seconds to combine slightly.
  9. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
  10. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds until the mix starts coming together into one batter. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
  11. Resume beating on medium speed for 3 minutes.
  12. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan with Caramel. Spread mixture evenly into all the corners of the pan.
  13. Prepare the apples last – this way you don’t have to coat them with lemon juice to prevent browning. Peel and core the apples. Cut the apple through length-ways. Turn each half onto its flat side and cut thin slices of about 2 mm.
  14. Pack the apple slices on top of the Blondie Batter, each slice overlapping the previous one. Brush the apple slices with melted salted butter.
  15. Bake the Blondies at 170ᵒC for 45-55 minutes, turning after 20 minutes. When a skewer tests clean, they are done.
  16. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin. Slice and dust with icing sugar to serve.
Notes
These guys go extremely well with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream – Yummmmyyyyyy!

If you give this recipe a go, tag me on facebook, twitter or instagram #philosophyofyum because I would LOVE to see!

What is YOUR favourite Apple Dessert/Bake? Comment below!

Chat Soon!

Aurelia 🙂

My Ultimate Salted Caramel Recipe

My Ultimate Salted Caramel Recipe

Salted Caramel – the Early Days…

The first time I made Salted Caramel, I was nothing short of terrified! Okay fine, I was terrified the first 3 times actually.

I pictured piping hot sugar landing on my hand and the pot then flying across the kitchen, smashing the window and landing on top of an unfortunate soul’s car.

In reality this NEVER happened and I can assure you that making Salted Caramel is really not hard at all!

It’s not a big deal and there’s nothing to be afraid of 🙂

Plus, the flavour and texture is just to die for! Totally worth the effort. It also keeps for a very long time, so it’s easy to whip out and drizzle over ice cream, cakes and your finger.

If you are a first timer, however, do make sure your attention is fully committed to what you are doing.

Put about 20 minutes aside to focus on nothing other than making your Salted Caramel.

> Tie your hair up, wear an apron and have a bowl of cold water on standby – just in case.

 

Salted Caramel Techniques:

Swirl, don’t stir!

My sister and I had such a crush on James Martin in high school! He is a celebrity chef that was all over BBC Food shows like Ready Steady Cook and Sweet Baby James.

He always did the most incredible things with sugar and caramel as he had Pastry Chef training as well.

After about 2 months of just staring at him on cooking shows, the information he shared started penetrating through my googling eyes, into my brain! Haha!

Ultimate-Salted-Caramel-JM

“Never, ever stir a caramel” he used to say in almost every episode he featured on. “It will clump together and become an unusable mess. Just swirl it around.”

Some folks do stir the sugar and water to help the sugar dissolve. You are welcome to do this, but swirling it is really quite sufficient, even in the beginning stages.

Using boiling water is the best way to help the sugar to dissolve faster.

 

Thermometer – yes or no?

Most Salted Caramel recipes insist on using a sugar thermometer.

According to other recipes the sugar will be the perfect colour at 150°C – this did not work at all. My sugar syrup was still only slightly coloured at this point.

I do own a thermometer that I use regularly for Italian meringue and other candies. However, it is not necessary to use a sugar thermometer for Salted Caramel.

> Go by colour, not temperature. You can take it too far and burn it, but just follow the method carefully and you will be fine.

 

Ultimate Salted Caramel Recipe

Salted Caramel is a revelation! It's delicious drizzled over ice cream, cakes and your fingers. The first time I made Salted Caramel, I was nothing short of terrified! But I can assure you that making Salted Caramel is really not hard at all. Plus, the flavour and texture is just to die for! Totally worth the effort. #saltedcaramel #caramelrecipe #caramelrecipe
My Ultimate Salted Caramel
 
Author:
Serves: 32
Ingredients
  • 200 g granulated white sugar
  • 60 ml water
  • 125 ml whipping cream (between 35% - 40% fat)
  • 50 g unsalted butter
  • ½ tsp sea salt flakes OR ⅓ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
  1. Place sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan on medium heat.
  2. While the sugar is dissolving, place butter, cream and salt in a separate small saucepan on another burner over medium high heat. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat right down to its lowest setting just to keep it warm.
  3. Swirl the sugar and water mixture occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved. Proceed to turn the heat up to medium high to bring sugar syrup to a steady boil. After a minute or so, turn the heat up to high (Out of my 6 heat settings, I put my stove on number 5).
  4. Watch the sugar like a hawk! Spots of colour will start to appear after anything from 7-10 minutes. Gently swirl the pan every now and then so the sugar doesn’t only caramelize in one spot.
  5. Keep cooking until traces of light smoke releases from the mixture and the sugar is a dark amber colour.
  6. Remove sugar from the heat and immediately pour in the warm cream mixture in four phases, continually whisking with a balloon whisk until fully combined. Return the caramel to medium heat and cook for another 2 minutes. *If you want to use it as a more pour-able sauce, don't return the pot to the stove for those 2 extra minutes.
Notes
You have to dissolve the sugar COMPLETELY before you start caramelizing it! If your caramel crystallizes it's because the didn't dissolve the sugar completely.

In the next post you can get one of my ALL TIME favourite recipes to date – Salted Caramel Apple Blondies! Make them – they will change your life.

Chat soon!

Aurelia 🙂

Got a question? Something to add? Let’s chat in the comments section down below! (I respond to every single comment)