Whenever we go apple picking in the fall, I always end up with a surplus of apples that I need to use up. So many apples to the point where half of them usually go bad by the time I finally have an idea or two that could utilize them. Because of that conundrum, I had to come up with a couple of ways I could use up a lot of apples in one go. This pie is my answer to that issue. I was literally thinking of what the best version of an apple pie was, the main things I love about apple pie are the buttery crust, the caramelized apple filling, and the fact that it can get rid of 5-6 apples in one go. Especially the last part. For this recipe, I wanted to do a couple of things to really help highlight that crust and filling. I love the idea of putting cheese in my apple pie crust, and while cheddar is a somewhat controversial(depending on what region of America you are from) choice to include in it, I feel like gjetost is a cheese everyone can get behind pairing with apples. Gjetost is a Norwegian brown cheese, similar in texture to cheddar, made by slowly cooking down goat’s milk until it has this rich, nutty, and pleasantly sweet flavor. Despite being a medium-firm cheese, it is 100% a dessert-oriented ingredient, and tastes like a less sweet dulce de leche, but in cheese form! To by putting gjetost cheese in both my crust and my filling, you end up with this satisfying, gooey filling, a buttery crust that is almost reminiscent of Taiwanese pineapple pastry, and a pleasant nutty, caramel-like flavor running through the whole thing. And what pairs beautifully with caramel? Apples. And what else? Miso. And that is why I went with miso. I love making desserts with it. Miso adds an earthy saltiness, and depending on the kind you use, a tangy, sweet aftertaste, that works gorgeously with sugar. Which is why I love to roast miso paste and grind it with sugar into a fine powder. Miso sugar is basically my back pocket dessert component that levels up any caramel-based dessert almost instantly. The combination of gjetost and apples is super autumnal for me, and pairing that with the miso sugar honestly results in the best apple pie you will ever have.

As I mentioned, there are really three components to this recipe. A miso sugar, a gooey apple filling, and a buttery pie crust. The miso sugar goes into the gjetost pie crust, but also the filling, so it is important that you make that first and foremost. What I like doing is while the miso is roasting in a thin layer in the oven, that’s when I start measuring out all of my other ingredients for the crust, so that when the sugar is ready, I can hop right into making that dough. For the gjetost crust, I did use apple brandy, since the alcohol mixes with the butter to create a super flaky pie crust. However, you can substitute that out with milk, water, or buttermilk if baking with booze is not your thing. I did blend cubes of the gjetost cheese directly into the crust using a food processor, but if you do not have one, you can either finely grate it and incorporate that into the crust, or, and this will take a lot longer to form your crust, melt the gjetost and butter over a double boiler, mix everything into that, and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours before attempting to work on it. So, in short, a food processor will make this recipe about 10x easier. I also used malted barley flour in my pie dough, which you can find in a lot of Asian supermarkets. Malted barley flour is something I procured because I was trying to extract my own maltose from oats. I have also used it in the past at L’Espalier, where we used it in making our Oreo crumble! It has a pleasant malt flavor to it that tastes like the cookies you would snack on from the grocery store. So perfect for both an apple pie crust and an apple pie filling! But I totally get that it is not an everyday ingredient, so feel free to substitute that with normal all-purpose flour. The filling uses a roux, or a cooked flour mixture, to thicken and bind our apples. Most of the time, roux is used to make things like mac n’ cheese or gravy, but in this case, we are making a sweeter one, using malted barley four, brown butter, apple cider, and gjetost cheese, and mixing that into miso-caramelized apple slices. The end result is a custard-like consistency with caramelized slices of apples running through it. All in all, this is one of those pies that works for so many reasons, and it will steadily become a hand in hand fall tradition with apple picking for me!

For the miso sugar:
2 tbsp white miso paste
2/3 cups granulated sugar

Spread the miso paste onto a silpat in a thin and even layer. Bake the miso at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. It should turn into a dark, almost burnt color with a bark-like texture. Transfer to a spice grinder with the sugar and blitz into a fine powder.

For the gjetost pie crust:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups malted barley flour(can substitute with all-purpose flour)
2 sticks unsalted butter, diced and kept cold
2oz diced gjetost cheese
1/2 cup miso sugar
1oz apple brandy(can substitute with water)
1oz cold water

In a food processor, blend together the flours, butter, gjetost cheese, and miso sugar first. Once everything is combined together into a sand-like texture, add to that the calvados and cold water. Continue to pulse everything until just mixed together. Transfer the dough onto cling wrap, and from there, freeze the dough for 20 minutes.

For the apple filling:
4oz brown butter, in two parts
3 tbsp malted barley flour(can substitute with all-purpose flour)
a pinch of cinnamon
3g finely grated gjetost cheese
1/4 cup apple cider
2 tbsp miso sugar
5 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices

In a pot, heat up one part of the brown butter with the barley flour and cinnamon first until the flour develops a nutty aroma. Add to that the cheese and cider and stir until combined. Keep on low heat until the apples are ready to be mixed with this.

In a nonstick pan, heat up the miso sugar with half of the brown butter until the sugar begins to dissolve. Add to that the apples and stir, off heat, until the butter-sugar mixture coats the apples, before returning to low heat.

To the apples, pour in the cheese-cider mixture and stir until everything is combined. Allow the filling to fully cool before using in the pie.

For assembly:
1 egg yolk

Allow your dough to come up to room temperature before rolling half of it out on a floured surface to roughly 12 inches in diameter. Transfer the dough to a fluted 10-inch tart tin, and trim any excess. Refrigerate that half of the dough while you roll out the remaining dough, trimming it into 1/2-inch strips to use for your lattice. With any spare dough, roll and press it into any desired decorative shapes(I used a mooncake press on mine).

Start by pouring your filling into the prepared tart shell. Layer the strips on top of that to form your lattice. Brush the top of the lattice with egg yolk, and then arrange the other decorative shapes on top of that, and brush on more egg yolk. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour. Allow the pie to fully cool before removing it from the tart tin.