Rose Apple Pie

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This Rose Apple Pie is a labor of love. It’s an apple pie that is in shape of a rose. It’s stunning to look at and even better to eat. And topped with a bourbon caramel glaze and flakey sea salt. Slice it up and enjoy your life.

Rose Apple Pie with flakey sea salt on top.

Why Make a Rose Apple Pie

Make this rose apple pie if you want to stunt on people. I mean this with love. But if you wanna win Thanksgiving and let everyone know that you are that b*tch, make this pie.

It is a true labor of love but it’s beautiful to look at and it’s delicious. Apples that are layered side-by-side make the pie look like gigantic rose. I like to brush it with a butterscotch glaze for some flavor and top it with flakey sea salt.

And of course, if you want to make something easier that involves easier, definitely look to my Homemade Apple Pie or Easy Apple Cobbler.

Pie being assembled. Slices of apples all around.

Ingredients You’ll Need for Rose Apple Pie

  1. Apples – I love to use a combination of granny smith and honey crisp or gala. I like the color variation of the red and green.
  2. Lemon – You definitely need to toss the apple slices with lemon to prevent them from browning.
  3. Spices – This pie uses cinnamon and nutmeg. Two classic apple pie spices.
  4. Brown Sugar – I love brown sugar and this pie is tossed in brown sugar. AND we need brown sugar for the butterscotch glaze.
  5. Pie crust – You can make your own homemade pie crustQWz . OR you can buy one. Zero shame!

For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe card below!

Pie being assembled with apples going all the way around.

Tips and Tricks

It looks harder than it looks, for sure. Because this recipe is a bit more challenging (really just with the arranging), I’d like to share some things to keep in mind:

  1. A mandolin is a must. It’ll make the whole process go much quicker and you really need to have apple slices that aren’t too thick.
  2. My apples were pretty small. If you’re using normal-sized apples, use a pie pan. (I opted to use a tart shell because the apple slices were pretty small.) My apples were too small for a normal pie pan and a tad bit too big for a tart shell so I trimmed about a 1/2-inch from the bottom of the slices.
  3. On arranging the slices – The second layer of apple slices should be arranged in between the first layers indentations. Does this make sense? This creates the illusion of a rose. It’s fairly easy and actually kinda fun once you get started.
  4. The freezer is your friend – Freeze the whole thing for 20 minutes before baking it. I know that seems weird but arranging the apple slices takes a good 15 minutes or so. By the time you’re done, the pie shell or tart shell will need to rechill.
  5. Use a combination of apples – I used granny smith and pink lady. I liked the color variation. I think all granny smith would be too tart. But all red and pink lady or honey crisp would be delicious.
Rose Apple Pie.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make this pie ahead?

Yes, absolutely. You can make it the day ahead, freeze it (cover it lightly with plastic wrap) and bake it from frozen.

Can I use other fruit besides apples?

I don’t think any other fruit will really work. Maybe persimmons? But you really need a crisp fruit. Pears would be too mushy.

Can I leave out the bourbon?

Absolutely, replace it with vanilla extract or water.

More Apple Recipes

Here are some favorites:

If you tried this Rose Apple Pie or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

5 from 6 votes

Rose Apple Pie

Prep: 40 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Chilling Time: 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 1 single 9-inch pie crust
This Rose Apple Pie is an apple that looks like a gigantic rose. Red and green apples are layered to appear like petals. The entire pie is brushed with a butterscotch glaze and a pinch of flakey sea salt.

Equipment

  • 1 (9-inch) pie plate or tart pan
  • 1 mandolin

Ingredients 

Filling:

  • 1 lemon
  • 7-8 apples, weighing: 1 1/2 pounds, cored and quartered
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt

Bourbon Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoons bourbon
  • Flakey sea salt , for garnish

Instructions 

To Make Prepare the Apple Filling:

  • Squeeze the lemon into a medium bowl. Using a mandolin (set on the second setting), slice each quartered apple into 1/8-inch slivers.
  • As the apples are sliced, transfer them to the bowl and toss them in the lemon juice; this will prevent them from browning. (Reserve one quarter of an apple for the center – we're going to slice that later).
  • Repeat until all the apples are sliced and in the bowl. To the bowl, add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Toss until evenly coated.

To Assemble the Pie:

  • Roll out your pie crust and place it in a 9-inch pie pan or 9-inch tart shell. (I chose the latter.) Trim the edges and discard. If you're using a tart shell, you can simply roll the rolling pin on top to trim it. Feel free to add a crimped edge to the pie if you're using a pie plate.
  • Arrange the apple slices side-by-side, placing the cut side down on the pie crust. Start closest to the edge of the tart shell/pie plate. Continue as you work yourself around. This will take a good 15 minutes.
  • As you get to the center, you'll need apple slivers that are very thin. Slice the reserved quarter of an apple very thinly (on the mandolin's first setting) and arrange it until the gap in the center is completely closed.
  • I took a few slices and rolled it onto itself to and placed that in the very center like a rose's center.

To Chill the Pie:

  • Transfer the pie to the freezer and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the edges of the crust with egg wash and place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, checking on it at the 20-minute-mark to make sure all is ok, until the apples are lightly golden brown and the edges of the crust are browned. Allow to come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

To Make the Glaze:

  • In a saucepan medium, placed over moderately high heat, pour in the brown sugar and butter. Cook until the sugar begins to melt and turns a darker shade of golden brown around the edges. Remove from the heat and pour in the bourbon. It will bubble up, not to worry – this is normal. Continue whisking it until it becomes smooth again.
  • Brush the apples liberally with the warm glaze. You may have a tablespoon or two of extra glaze. I say put it your coffee! Top with flakey sea salt and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Notes

Tips and Tricks:
  1. A mandolin is a must. It’ll make the whole process go much quicker and you really need to have apple slices that aren’t too thick.
  2. My apples were pretty small. If you’re using normal-sized apples, use a pie pan. (I opted to use a tart shell because the apple slices were pretty small.) My apples were too small for a normal pie pan and a tad bit too big for a tart shell so I trimmed about a 1/2-inch from the bottom of the slices.
  3. On arranging the slices – The second layer of apple slices should be arranged in between the first layers indentations. Does this make sense? This creates the illusion of a rose. It’s fairly easy and actually kinda fun once you get started.
  4. The freezer is your friend – Freeze the whole thing for 20 minutes before baking it. I know that seems weird but arranging the apple slices takes a good 15 minutes or so. By the time you’re done, the pie shell or tart shell will need to rechill.
  5. Use a combination of apples – I used granny smith and pink lady. I liked the color variation. I think all granny smith would be too tart. But all red and pink lady or honey crisp would be delicious.

Nutrition

Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 64mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, French
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!

Cozy Latin-Inspired Comfort Food Recipes

Hi! I'm Adrianna and this is my cozy space on the internet that is super-charged by butter, flour and copious amounts of pasta. Stay awhile, will you!

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60 Comments

  1. I am looking forward to doing this for Christmas! Two questions though: 1) do you take the core out of the apple before cutting the slices in the mandolin? 2) can you bake the pie hours before serving it? And if you do.. do you put it back in the refrigerator or leave it at room temperature?

  2. 5 stars
    This has become our Thanksgiving staple. Everyone loves it. I serve it warm with vanilla bean ice cream and drizzle some of the caramel sauce over the whole thing. SO good and so beautiful!

  3. I want to make this for Thanksgiving and did a test run last night. I used a food processors smallest blade to slice the apples and the assembly only too about 20 min. I did not pre-bake the crust and I wish I had as I ended up with a little bit of a “soggy bottom”, as they would say on the British Bake Off. I also doubled the glaze recepie and that turned into a yummy dark, thick, Carmel which I ended up pouring over the pie as you would have with this glaze. Wish I had more of the Carmel sauce.

    My apples kept some bite to them from top to bottom and was not to liquidy at the bottom as others have said but, I do wish I had drained the apples first as I think the crust would have turned out better.

    Pictures on my ig alzim4

  4. If I want to make this pie for an event that has kids is there another glaze I can use besides Bourbon? An alcohol free glaze?

      1. Yep, just looked over the recipe and you can just skip the bourbon all together. It’ll be a little thicker than what is pictured but it’ll surely work.

  5. Beautiful pie. I tried making it and everyone absolutely loved its looks. I’d post a pic but I don’t see an option to. Unfortunately I shouldn’t have been trusted with a mandolin. I recommend keeping a box of band-aids and paper towels ready next to your apple slicing equipment…it would have helped me out A LOT

    1. Oh I love when people posts pics of the recipes either on Instagram (you can use the hashtag #acozykitchen) or on my Facebook page.

      https://www.facebook.com/ACozyKitchen

      Sorry about the mandolin accident. It can get dangerous, trust me I know. My boyfriend taught me a trick. He said that your fingers shouldn’t be grabbing the vegetable or apple, but instead your palm should be grasping it (fingers should be parallel to the mandolin), this way there’s no change for your fingers to get sliced.

    2. i just bought the oxo mandolin 2.0-it has a GIANT food object holder. it’s nearly the size of a salad plate. no way to cut your hand, and it has little spiky grippy things to hold the food you’re slicing. definite life changer!

  6. Great job! I absolutely love your attention to detail.
    I’ve just created a similar blog post to this, check it out!

    http://www.rosiepages.com