Growing up in Rhode Island, it was a fall tradition for mom and I to go apple picking at the farms by the beaches. Mom would make pies and I would eat them! Apple pie is one of those things that I can eat for breakfast lunch and dinner..Just give me all the pie!
Our Apple Pie baklava came about as an experiment to see how fresh fruit would fare in filo dough. My concern was that it would be too moist and that the baklava wouldn’t crisp up enough. In order to not have that happen, I opted for Fuji apples that cook down, but not as much as the Macintosh apples that mom would use in her regular pies.
Cut into small, bitty apple pieces, a lot of cinnamon and a hint of sugar and our center apple layer was complete. Walnuts were my go to for the nuts and were essential as the nuts layers, especially under the apples to create a bit of a barrier between the apples and the filo dough.
To finish off the apple pie, I have 2 options that I do: Basic and the Boozy version.
The basic version of the apple pie has traditional simple baklava syrup, but a bit less that usually because I don’t want to overpower the apple-ness of the baklava.
But, for reals, you are curious about the Boozy version, right? Our boozy version uses bourbon caramel and regular syrup. I do a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of each over the top. I WOULD do all caramel but because the caramel is thick, it won’t sink into the layers of the baklava. So, I have to cut it a bit with regular syrup.
What I love about the caramel one is that you get the kick of the bourbon at the end of the bite. It’s not too overpowering but you know it’s there.
Definitely one for a holiday spread! I have even thought about giving extra caramel sauce for dipping. I mean, dipping apple pie baklava in a boozy bourbon caramel sauce could be a cool thing, I think!
It was a dark and stormy night…
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