While I have made gjetost apple pies in the past, the filling for this particular pie was the result of me trying to macerate the apples in caramel. With baking with fruit, there is the moisture factor that can cause a recipe to either work, or taste soggy, dense, and raw. Apple pie can be a culprit of this, since if the apples aren’t treated properly prior to baking, you can end up with either raw dough, or overcooked apples. However, by macerating your apples in sugar(or in this case caramel), for a prolonged period of time, the sugar can draw out all of that liquid that could cause that sogginess to happen. By macerating the apples in caramel specifically, I was trying to impart a lot of intense caramel flavor into the apples. To ensure that as much liquid is pulled out as possible, I let the apples macerate in the caramel for 3 whole days. That yielded a LOT of apple juice-caramel, and with that excess liquid, I cooked that down separately from the apples with cornstarch, just to thicken it, before pouring that back onto the apples to lock that flavor into the filling itself. The end result was a dense apple filling that was quite flavorful, but filled the pie nicely. The crust itself is a repeat from the previous apple-gjetost(Norwegian caramel cheese) pie, but covered in a lot more grated gjetost to add that gorgeous, caramelized exterior. The ONE regret I had was not photographing the cross section(this recipe was for a potluck, so I did not want to cut into the pie in advanced), but rest assured, the pie itself was delicious, and full of miso caramel flavor.

For the miso caramel:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp white miso paste
2oz heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter

In a pot, heat up dark brown sugar until it melts and reaches 275 degrees F. Add in the other ingredients and stir on low heat until everything is melted together.

For the filling:
7 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of cardamom
miso caramel
2 tbsp cornstarch

In a bowl, toss the apple slices with the spices. Then pour the miso caramel over the apples, tossing everything together, and cover the bowl with cling wrap. Refrigerate the apples for 3 days. Pour the excess liquid from the bowl into a pot, and whisk into that the cornstarch. Whisk the liquid on medium-high heat for 5 minutes to thicken it, and then pour it back over the apples for form your filling for the pie.

For the pie crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2oz gjetost cheese, plus more for the top
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2/3 cups cold water
1 egg yolk

In a food processor, puree the flour, butter, gjetost, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a fine powder. Then add to that the cold water to form your dough. Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into two pieces. Then roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until they are each large enough to be placed into a 10-inch pie tin. Place down your first piece of dough, then layer in your filling. Then place on top the other piece of dough. Brush the top with beaten egg yolk and grate more gjetost on top. Score the center of the top crust with a knife, poking in at least 6 holes. Bake the entire pie at 375 degrees F for 55 minutes. Allow the pie to fully cool before attempting to unmold the pie.