Photo by Richard Maack Mexican Apple Pie

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Mexican Apple Pie
Working off a tip from an avid reader, we headed to Cantina Laredo to see what the fuss was about over a simple apple pie, and we quickly learned that “simple” does not mean plain by any stretch.

The Mexican Apple Pie ($6.29) is presented tableside in a hot cast-iron skillet – 425 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact – creating quite a spectacle when a carafe of butter brandy sauce is poured over the fat pie wedge. Plumes of steam rise into the air, carrying the unmistakable perfume of caramel to several nearby tables.

The pie consists of thin slices of tart Granny Smith apples piled high in a traditional double crust. Cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar dust the top crust, and a baseball-sized scoop of cinnamon ice cream on top of the pie provides plenty of warm spiciness.

In the end, it’s the warm butter brandy sauce that sets this sharable dessert apart from the usual, run-of-the-mill apple pie. With just four ingredients – butter, brandy, sugar and vanilla – it takes the pie from ordinary to outrageously delicious.

DETAILS
Cantina Laredo
7361 E. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., Scottsdale
2150 E. Williams Field Road, Gilbert
cantinalaredo.com