Bourbon Pecan Apple Pie

In recent weeks I've been unemployed... just waiting on my bar results to come in. I've also, recently been willing it to become fall. And I've been craving a good pie. What's a girl to do when she's got time on her hands and craves fall and pie? Turn the air conditioning down real low, light a candy corn scented candle and bake something fallish.

But what to make? Apple pie of course. But not just any apple pie. Nay, I had festive bourbon and needed to use it. Suggestions were made that I drink the bourbon and make ye olde standard apple pie. But I had different ideas.... I decided it was time to combine three of my favourite things into one. *Cue Spice Girls music, Two Three become One.*

Bourbon-Pecan Apple Pie

For Crust

• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup dates
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons almond butter

Stir together first 6 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil... keep stirring... seriously, you can't stop stirring for until your candy thermometer registers 234° or the world will end. And it will be your fault. So stir, minion, stir.

Remove from heat, and vigorously stir in pecans. Getting pretty good at that stirring by now, huh? Spoon pecan goop onto wax paper. Let stand 20 minutes or until firm. Break praline-coated pecans apart into pieces.

Now... if you feel like cheating you can skip this first part and the first 7 ingredients if you can find ready made bourbon pecan pralines. They're pretty prevalent in the South and you can find them in most candy shops and bulk nut dealers.

Once the pralines have cooled and hardened a bit... or you've procured your store bought pralines smash them all to hell. Really, get a food chopper or rolling pin and smash those suckers to bits. Measure out two cups of the smashed up praline wads and dump them in a bowl.

Add the coconut, cinnamon and almond butter. Run the dates through a food processor so they get all chopped up and gooey. Add them to the bowl. Mix it all together and press into a 9 inch pie pan.

For Filling

• About six apples
• 1 cup dates
• 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• bourbon, commensurate with level of alcoholism
• 1 tsp white granulated sugar

Peel, slice and core three of the apples. Puree them, the dates, nutmeg, 2 tsp of the cinnamon, butter and bourbon together until ooey-gooey. Leave it in the blender / food processor for a while and instruct it to wait.

Slice and core the remaining three apples. Pile the majority of these apples up on the crust. Top with the ooey-gooey. Add a few slices of apples on top of that.

Now, mix together almond butter, maple syrup and a bit more bourbon. Dump this into a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner. Use the holey ziploc bag to drizzle this mixture over the pie. Sprinkle with the remaining tsp of cinnamon and white sugar.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300 and bake another 30 - 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Observe the beautifulness...

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