The DC state fair was scheduled for Aug 27. It was cancelled due to a hurricane blowing through town, I have to say good for me because I was out of town and would have missed the fair and a chance to win the all elusive blue ribbon.
Things are falling into place for me, the fair is now on Oct 1 and I think I have a winning pie crust. I found a recipe for salted caramel sauce online adapted from Americas Test Kitchen for my apple pie.
My plan of attack is to make my 3 pies and cupcake in stages. First I’ll make the pie crust Wednesday before the contest and then on Friday I assemble and bake the pies and the cupcakes so they’ll be fresh for the fair.
The first batch of salted caramel sauce cooked too fast so it was a “little” burned, so I started again. I mean really, how hard could it be to boil sugar until a it reaches 350 degrees, stir in cream and after it boils up to a spitting and popping monstrosity add some butter and sea salt, now that doesn’t sound hard at all? WRONG, on my first attempt it cooked too fast and it burned and got a little smokey (still good though). So I saved it in a jar who knows I could still use it, maybe. For the second batch I cooked on a lower temperature and cooked a little longer and it didn’t burn (yay for me). So, that’s the batch I’ll use for my pie. Let’s hope the rest of the baking will go better without the burning incidents in each process.
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| Sugar starting to color and reach temperature |
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| Add the butter and salt |
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| Both batches which is the burned one? |
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| A taste test! |
So, the countdown to glory begins.