Hot Buttered Rum Apple Pie

1.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Heat the brown sugar, spiced rum, salt and 3 tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir constantly until it thickens slightly. Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem nearly thick enough, it will thicken as it cools.

2.
Put sliced apples in a large bowl and mix with Apple Pie Spice Blend, flour, salt, and brown sugar until evenly coated.

3.
Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl with a whisk. Cube the chilled butter and cut into dry mixture with a food processor, fork, or handheld pastry blender just until it becomes crumbly. Add vinegar, beaten egg, and water until it becomes a dough. Do not overmix, this will make the dough tough.

4.
Before rolling out the dough, flour absolutely everything – the surface, the rolling pin, and the dough. Cut the dough in half (I usually do this by rolling it into an even ball and cutting it in half) and roll out into a 11 inch circle. Butter or spray your dish generously, as flakey pastry loves to stick. Gently transfer the dough into the dish, lightly pressing to the bottom and the sides.

5.
Put the apple filling into the dish. Be careful to have the apples lay flat, as an apple punctured my top crust. Pour half of the buttered rum sauce into the pie. Save the rest of the sauce for garnishing or adding to ice cream.

6.
Repeat the rolling process with the other half of the dough (again flouring everything) into another 11 inch circle. Gently lay the dough on top of the filling, without pressing down. You can get fancy and do a lattice or other pattern, but I just kept it simple and cut five little slits outward from the middle to vent the steam. Crimp the edges with you fingers, and cut off the excess dough. If you have an extra egg, beat into an egg wash and lightly brush onto the crust, which will make it a beautiful golden color when baked. Mix sugar with a dash of cinnamon or apple pie spice and sprinkle over top.

7.
Bake for 45 minutes until golden and flakey. If you see that it is browning too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil over the entire pie. Allow to cool slightly, and serve topped with remaining sauce.

8.
Optional: Mix extra rum and melted butter into sauce to desired taste and consistency. The rum flavor spreads out quite a bit when added to the pie, so I recommend making it slightly stronger than you normally would. If you don’t want to add the extra butter, a lighter option would be our Butter Extract.

9.
Enjoy this spiced rum apple pie a la mode with vanilla ice cream, or by itself.