Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup water or apple cider
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Peel, core, and slice your 1.36 kg of apples into 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick wedges. Toss them immediately with the 15 ml of lemon juice. Note: This prevents oxidation and starts breaking down the surface starches.
  2. Melt the 28 g of butter in your large skillet over medium heat until it begins to foam and sizzle gently.
  3. Add both the brown and granulated sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the melted butter. Stir with your spatula until the mixture looks like wet sand and starts to bubble.
  4. Fold the sliced apples into the sugar mixture. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. You are looking for the apples to release their juices and become slightly translucent around the edges. The kitchen will start to smell like a toasty, spiced autumn morning.
  5. While the apples simmer, whisk the 16 g of cornstarch into the 60 ml of water or cider in a small cup. Ensure there are zero lumps.
  6. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the pan while stirring constantly. Watch as the cloudy liquid turns clear and thickens into a velvety glaze in about 1 minute.
  7. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the 5 ml of vanilla extract. The aroma will shift from purely spiced to a sweet, floral finish.
  8. Transfer the filling to a shallow dish to cool. Note: Cooling is essential if you're putting this in raw pastry; hot filling will melt the fat in the crust and cause sogginess.