# Cayenne pepper in apple pie? *confused*



## austin_ (Jun 17, 2006)

I made a recipe for apple pie, and it has tons of caramel, walnuts, butter, and brown sugar, and of course- caramelized apples and ice cream. But I want to set this apple pie apart from the rest. I'm thinking about adding 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the mix, not too make it overly hot, but to give it a slight zip in the background. Is that a good idea? Or am I being a complete idiot? Any help appreciated.


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

If you're doing it only to be different with no culinary justification, it may or may not be a good idea. 

Although it has been done before and can be fairly common in certain regions, consider cheese with your apple pie which is a classic compliment to this classic dessert. Demonstrate your creativity by your selection of cheese and the method by which you choose to incorporate it with your dish. It may also be a good place to incorporate your chili.


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

I like to use the red pepper to highlight the mace or nutmeg, cinnamon or ginger in my pumpkin and apple pies. 
gives it a little kick without making it HOT.
:bounce:


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## austin_ (Jun 17, 2006)

Great advice guys!  I just love using spices in ways that not many people would think of it. I've heard of cheese on apple pie, and let me tell you how excited I would be to try a slice. Maybe some Fontina or Pepper Jack would go nicely- I've tried that before and it makes a pretty darn good cheese combination. Again- I dislike things WAY too spicy, but I love a little bit of hot to pump up the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger in the caramelized apple filling. Thanks for your advice. And if i wanted to be really different with out any culinary point- I would deep fry toothpaste and stuff it in roast chicken, dip it in liquid nitrogen, and serve it as a popsicle. :lol: That's reminds me of an upcoming science project due next Tuesday.  And I agree m brown, I don't like things too hot that are meant to be sweet.


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## wuzzo87 (May 20, 2005)

perhaps u could add some black pepper to ur apple pie along with the spice mix, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardommom...etc... 
I think i could add some 'kick' ..  
just a suggestion


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I'm puzzled. I never heard of an apple pie with carmelized apples (except i guess, tarte tatin, but those carmelize during the baking) - which is fine, sounds interesting (though a bit sweet with "tons of caramel" AND brown sugar AND caramelized apples) - what is strange is that you say "and *of course*, carmelized apples" 
The "of course" makes it sound like that's what everyone puts in apple pie. Am I missing something? Is this a regional specialty? I'd be curious to know. I love tarte tatin, would be interesting to get that taste in a regular two-crust pie.
My suggestion, by the way, with all that caramel, would be not to use spices at all (certainly not hot pepper) but to make it vanilla-based.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Austin,
Experimenting is one of the perks of cooking. I really don't think culinary justification has anything to do with R&D. I make an ammaretto peach pie that has a somewhat overpowering amount of fresh ground white pepper. It is always well received.
Like MBROWN, I have used red pepper that I crush with other spices. I have mainly used and really like the cayenne with chocolate.
Austin, never stop thinking or expermenting. There are many spices left on the table because a lot of people have catagorized them as savory and sweet. 
A lot of the more aggressive spices go even better in your sides. I would think the peppers would be great in the ice cream.
Done a chocolate jack daniels ancho ice cream for years. It's got cayenne.


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## erik (Jan 23, 2006)

That would be worth the trip to Texas! Yum!


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## bluedogz (Oct 11, 2006)

Well, I hushed up through this discussion because I'm not really qualified to back up my opinion- Im one of those pepper nuts that thinks just about everything is better with cayenne. I think I was the only customer that boiught the Edy's ice cream with the cayenne-covered peanuts in the vanilla base.

Pleeeeeez? :lips:


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## culprit (Nov 8, 2006)

Caramelizing applies prior to filling the pie crust is only one of the many variations I like to use in making applie pie. The butter, sugar mix used to caramelize the apples in a nice hot pan seems to deepen the flavor (I add the spices just prior to removing the apples from the pan) and make the pie taste a bit richer. But layering raw slices of apple with sugar, spices and dabs of butter on the crust is still on my list of "how to" for applie pies.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

thanks culprit - i;ve read dozens of apple pie recipes and never found one that carmelized the apples. Sounds really good. But as i say, i would not want to cover that nice flavor of carmelized sugar and butter, and would use vanilla not spices.


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## cookiemomster (Nov 13, 2006)

Some of the best store-bought Ginger Snaps have a great kick from red pepper, and Ginger Snaps are great with Apple Cider. I like to make a Ginger Snap crust for a lot of different pies (Pumpkin, especially), so stands to reason it would taste great with Apple Pie, right? What a round-about way of thinking, but that's how it goes with me...the ideas are there, somewhere, though!:crazy: 
If you need a brand name, let me know, 'cause I can tell you the best Ginger Snaps around and where to get them.


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Yes, experimenting is how some of the best dishes are created in the first place. Perhaps I should clarify... when I taste something, there should be an appropriate combination of texture, flavors, temperatures, etc. This leaves plenty of room for experimentation. When you watch Iron Chef, they're creating their dishes on the fly but with the culminations of experiences which allow them to have educated guesses about what may work better than not.

My suggestion above of incorporating the chili into cheese is derived from the fact that flavor is carried by fat. The oils of a spicy chili will better incorporate into and be enhanced by the fat of a cheese then it would be if it were simply added to the pie itself. The dairy of the chili will ease the harshness of the pepper on the digestive system for those with sensitive stomachs. In addition, the savoury cheese compliments the sweetness of the pie enhancing both by eating them together.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

whatever, iron chef is tv. I work and survive in the kitchens based upon what my customers think. cheese deadens and covers the taste buds. It's a good garnish but I would never use it to transport spice.


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Iron Chef, Pierre Herme, Grandma, your neighbor, the street vendor, documented by a television camera or not, it doesn't matter. 

This is exactly where food knowledge, experience and creativity comes into practice. Notice I never specified flavor or quantity of cheese or even if the cheese is in it's original form or close to it.

Experiment away....


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## austin_ (Jun 17, 2006)

Thanks guys!  I know, I'm not even close to being a chef- I'm not even that great at cooking. XD. But I'll keep trying and experimenting. I think I wrote it wrong- it's apples with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, a slight pinch of cayenne to give a kick in the background, a small bit of caramel, not to drown the apples, but to give some to balance out the flavor of the cayenne and to make it taste like a caramel apple pie. I've always grown up on apple pie with a graham cracker crust, so I created it there. I don't pay attention too much to the top crust, because I like to see the apples. Then I bake it, and serve it with ice cream, because everyone in the family I know loves it al a mode. I do like the idea of chili with the cheese, that sounds rather appetizing. Maybe I could do a spicy cheese like a pepper jack? I never drown anything in caramel, lol. It took me some work to get rid of all the sweet from the apple pie.. Does that sound okay? I'm not really a baker and already have lots of things that I want to learn about baking, and I'm only a teenager- I still have years to go to culinary school. :lips:


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

It may be best to make a somewhat basic apple pie to serve as the foundation for any flavor additions. A good way to experiment without getting sick of making pies might be to take slices out of the one pie and combine each slice with different spices or cheeses or other ingredients so that you can taste them and get an idea of what might work best. 

You might want to research the cheese that is traditional with apple pie and go from there. Or you might want to blindly experiment. Over time you will find the methodology that works best for you.


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## austin_ (Jun 17, 2006)

Good idea. I think the best cheeses to use for an apple pie, according to research and my love of pie, are sharp cheddar and cream cheese. I still think pepper jack might go nicely too. I've also tried many variations of apple pie and I love almost all spices that go in it. I think experimenting might be a good idea as well. I've heard of people who spend up to 10 years trying to perfect their "marinara sauce" or "pie crust recipe". I know patience is a virtue, but will it take that long to find a good combinations of spices to go with apple pie? It's not really the spices, it's mainly more of the money. If I had to spend every weekend using money to constantly buy ingreidents for apple pie, I think I would be broke in a matter of months. :lol: Just so I know, what are your favorite spices that go in an apple pie? Just wondering.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Well Austin, I'm confused now. First your told you need experience to experiment and now it's different. Anyway, experiment away. My personal preference (although not a pastry star) it to set out your raw ingredients. Experiment with a sliced raw apple and some spices and cheese or whatever. I'm a firm believer in, if it's not palatable raw, baking won't change it to much. I'm sure plenty of people are on the other side of that.
Remember, not to many recipes you see are crated by a person of this century. Take any recipe and do enough research and you will see that it has been done before. I have developed a small formula file but I would never say I created the item. I leave that up to the tv chefs.:lol:  
come play in my bakery anytime.
pan


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

No reason to be confused here. I never said experience was "required". Only that once experience is obtained, that experience can be applied. No one is born with experience, but they may be born with talent and a natural ability to combine ingredients and flavors.

Maybe another way to experiment is to create single serving apple pies, mini versions which are all different but cooked at the same time so you can compare and contrast the results.


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## trulys (Sep 27, 2006)

:lips: Which cookies do you like and what pepper do they use cause i'm constantly trying to make mine hotter(spicier) i thought maybe stem ginger was the secret. It never occured to me pepper.
Trulys


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

A little off-topic, but related...

My favorite sauce is mole, a classic combo of chocolate and chiles. (sweet stuff with hot chiles)


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

My sister had a Mexican boyfriend who used to put cayenne on mangoes. It surprised me how good it was because as a rule I'm no big fan of cayenne. And then when you think about Red Hots candy and how hot they can be,... I don't know, you might have something there. Worth a try anyway.


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## themurrmaid (Aug 25, 2006)

Have you considered ras el hanout? It's a Moroccan seasoning with a lot of cardamom. It pairs nicely with apples and would definitely be something different.


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