Escalloped Apples?

At Thanksgiving, we made a new dessert called Skillet Caramel Apple Crisp. I am not a huge apple pie person, but this dessert pulled me back in time.

When I was about 10 or 11, my parents took a trip to Miami. Randomly they left us with some woman we had never met, basically a rent-a-babysitter for the week. Not a very nice human. The one thing that stayed with me was the escalloped apples she made. She told us she made them when I knew my Mom made them and then jazzed them up a bit, using Stouffers Escalloped Apples as the foundation. This woman just warmed up the Stouffers and put them in a different pan. Weird what your memory brings you back to.

We made these apples after partaking in some attitude adjustment products, but they tasted like Escalloped Apples, and I love those. I will make this one again and prep earlier in the day.

Caramel Sauce

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter diced
• 1 cup heavy cream (I used 2% milk and mixed in 1 tsp. corn starch which is a perfect substitute)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. kosher salt

The key to making caramel sauce is having everything measured out before you begin and pay attention. It can burn in seconds.

Add the sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Stir until melted and combined. Add the butter, and let the sugar and butter combine without stirring. It will take a few minutes until the mixture begins to bubble. Then continue to stir until golden and immediately take off the heat. Whisk in the cream (the batter will splatter a bit) and add the vanilla and salt. Continue to whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Heat the oven to 350.

Apples

• Peel and core 3 lbs. of crisp apples. I used Honeycrisps.
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cardamon
• pinch of kosher salt

Mix this all together in a large bowl. Add 1/4 of the caramel sauce (1/2 cup) and mix until all the apples are covered. Scrape all of this into a skillet (I used a cast iron pan)

Topping

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup slice almonds (the recipe called for pecans but you could also do nothing)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. koshere salt
• 1/2 cup softened salted butter

Mix all this with your fingers until crumbs start to form. Pour evenly over the apple mixture. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the mixture begins to bubble. Take it out, pour the remaining caramel sauce on the side or top as I did (which was a bit overwhelming), and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A much better version of those escalloped apples. When my Mom returned from Miami, and I asked how their trip was, she said terrible. Never go to Miami. It is the worst. Possibly the beginning of the end of their marriage, but the comments about Florida have never left my head.