Caramel Apple Pie Sundae

Apple pie in sundae form! Tart Granny Smith apples cooked with brown sugar and cinnamon and dowsed in caramel sauce. Served over vanilla ice cream in a flaky homemade (easy!) buttermilk pie crust shell.

Weather check in time. How’s the weather in your part of the world? Here in sunny SoCal, it’s starting to get HOT. It’s hot and it’s the worst. We haven’t had our first 100° day yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s coming this weekend.

I know a lot of people love warm weather, but I am not one of them, and in my book there is only one good thing about summer: summer means ice cream weather.

And ice cream weather means ice cream sundaes! And oh what a sundae I have for you today, a Caramel Apple Pie Sundae!!

Do you like apple pie à la mode? You are going to love this.

It’s vanilla ice cream served in a homemade pie crust cup and topped with an apple cinnamon and caramel sauce.

You assemble these with the crusts straight out of the oven, with sauce warm, and it’s like taking a bite out of the best apple pie you’ve ever eaten, only perfect for summer.

This dessert looks a little fiddly, but it’s actually pretty simple. We are using my favorite buttermilk pie crust again, which you know I love because it is so great to work with and is made in the food processor, so it’s suuuuper easy.

You form the cups by cooking them over the bottom of a cupcake pan. And don’t worry, no delicate, crumbly cups here. They’re surprisingly sturdy!

And you have plenty of time to make the apples (and optionally, the caramel sauce) while the cups bake. The worst part about this dessert is that if you make your own caramel sauce , you have to cook the apples and caramel separately, so there are two pots to wash. Booo, I know, but it’s worth it. I promise!

By cooking them separately, the brown sugar and cinnamon with the apples don’t melt into the caramel sauce, so when everything is mixed together, you get these amazing swirls of cinnamon brown sugar that is just to die for. Trust me. You want to wash that extra pot.

Set your pie crust cups on a cute plate, add a scoop of ice cream, and positively drown them in your caramel apple sauce. Then take a bite and ascend to a higher plane of deliciousness.

I know it’s a little early to say, but this might just be my dessert of the summer.

Ingredients

Special Tools

▢ Non-stick muffin pan

Pie Crust Cups

▢ 1/2 batch My Favorite Buttermilk Pie Crust prepared and chilled
▢ Flour for dusting
▢ 1 egg beaten

Topping

▢ 1 large Granny Smith apple diced
▢ 1 tablespoon ( 12 g) brown sugar
▢ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
▢ 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
▢ 1 cup caramel sauce homemade or store-bought
▢ Vanilla ice cream

Instructions

Pie Crust Cups

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Allow chilled pie crust to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to soften slightly.
On a well-floured surface, roll out pie crust to 3/8-inch thick. Cut 5 4-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or large cup, balling and re-rolling the dough once if necessary*. If your dough is becoming warm and your rounds stick to your cutting board, use a metal spatula to carefully dislodge them.
Flip your muffin pan upside down and drape dough over alternating cups. Gently squeeze dough down so that it is loosely molded over the top of the cups (it doesn’t have to be perfect, just vaguely cup-shaped).
Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up slightly. Brush with egg wash, being careful not to drip egg onto the pan as it can cause the cups to stick.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before gently removing cups. If they have stuck to the egg wash, carefully use a spatula to loosen them first.

Topping

While cups bake, in a small pot, over medium heat, combine apple pieces, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally until apples reach your desired consistency, about 4 to 6 minutes. (If making your own caramel sauce, prepare it while apples soften.)
Remove from heat and stir in warm caramel sauce.

Assemble

Place pie cups on plates and fill with a scoop of vanilla ice cream each. Spoon caramel and apple sauce over the top and enjoy!

Notes

Nutritional Information

Quick pork chops made with rosemary and sherry that can be on the table in about 20 minutes. So easy and delicious you won’t believe it.

Happy Wednesday! How’s your week going so far? Did the Monday holiday (for US readers) throw you off? I’m a huge creature of habit so disruptions to my schedule always leave me feeling adrift. Like, what is time even!? 😉

Oh well. That means we’re just that much closer to the weekend.

And hey, speaking of time, how it flies! Baking Mischief is six months old today! Not to get sappy or anything, but I want to thank everyone who has followed along, commented, emailed, pinned, tried recipes, EVERYTHING. You guys are the best and this has been one of the most fun experiences of my life!

Okay, enough feelings for today. On to the recipe!

Are you ready for your new favorite way to cook pork chops?

This recipe is the epitome of a perfect weeknight meal, so quick and easy, no-fail, healthy, and still tastes like something you slaved over.

Sometimes simplicity is beautiful (and delicious). This is just a few pork chops, whatever kind you like best, seared in butter, and then simmered in a combination of sherry, rosemary, and garlic until cooked through. That’s it.

20 minutes from start to finish and you have a main dish that looks and tastes like it took three times that.

And, guess what. This dish even makes it’s own side.

Steam or boil some broccoli/asparagus/green beans while your chops cook and then once you set the meat aside to rest, deglaze the pan with a bit more sherry and toss those veggies in there, let them soak up all that delicious rosemary and garlic sauce and boom, your healthy side dish is taken care of too.