2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons margarine or chilled vegetable shortening

1/4 cup ice water

Read all of the directions that I wrote in this post before beginning the following recipe. It will help you

In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt. Cut the chilled butter and margarine into 1-tablespoon bits and add to the flour. With a pastry cutter, work flour and shortening together until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water little by little pressing the pastry together into a ball. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

It is very important to work the pastry as little as possible. Don’t over handle. A secret to light, flaky pastry is to keep the mixture cool, add as little water as possible, and mix only as much as necessary.

Put flour and salt in bowl of machine and pulse a couple of times. Cut butter and margarine (I used vegan butter sticks and and vegetable shortening) into flour. Process a few seconds until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop add the water, processing very briefly. The whole process takes 20 to 30 seconds. Divide the pastry into two even pieces (I weigh mine on the baking scale to make sure they’re even). Wrap and chill the pastry for at least 1 hour.

Let the pastry sit out for about 15 minutes if you chilled in the fridge for a long time. But make sure it does not get too soft. You want it to still be cold when you roll it out.

Lightly flour a pastry board, marble counter, or kitchen counter (make sure the counter is clean). Divide the pastry in half. Pat each piece of pastry into a flat round. Lightly flour the rolling pin (I like to roll my dough in between plastic wrap and I lightly flour both sides of the dough). Roll the first portion of pastry in one direction only, turning pastry continually to prevent it from sticking to the surface.

Using pie plate as a guide, measure rolled-out pastry — it should be slightly larger than the 9-inch pie plate and 1/8-inch thick. Fold rolled pastry circle in half so you can lift it more easily. Unfold, gently fitting the pastry into the pie plate, allowing pastry to hang evenly over the edge. Trim the dough that is hanging.

Roll out the second piece of pastry in same way. Cut the top crust as a lattice, approximately 1-inch in width or as desired. Chill the rolled crust in the pie plate and the lattice strips while you prepare the salted caramel and apple filling.

Juice the lemons into a large mixing bowl. Core, peel, and thinly slice the whole apples. Mix the apples in the lemon juice to prevent them from browning and to add some lemon flavor. Let the apple mixture sit for about 5 minutes.

Drain the apples if there seems to be a lot of lemon juice in the bowl. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon on the mixture over the drained apples in the mixing bowl. With a spoon (or your hands) gently combine and coat the apple slices.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Gather your rolled pie crust in the pie plate, salted caramel, and apple mixture.

Spoon 1/3 of the caramel all over the apples.

Assemble the lattice crust and flute the edges of the crust.

Pour the last bit of caramel on top.

Brush the crust with the beaten egg.

Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Place the pie plate on a large baking tray (the caramel does bubble over so be sure to place the pie plate on a baking sheet).

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. If you notice after 10 minutes that the crust is getting too brown, you could lower the heat to 325F and you could also tent the pie with a piece of foil paper. You can test the apples for doneness with a long toothpick or small knife. The apples should be just soft.

Let the pie cool, then slice and enjoy. Serve with your favorite ice-cream or whipped cream.