Apple Pie Rose

Remember these? A few days ago I saw a video online of someone preparing these beautiful pastries and posted a link to the video on my facebook page. You may have not seen it. Thanks to the annoying FB restrictive distribution policies the post reached a grand total of 14 people but I had no intention of paying them to boost the post. I found the link to the video on Divina Cucina facebook page but it may have originated on another site called Scoopla. Here is a link to the video. It looked so easy, fun and pretty that I had to make it. I had the ingredients which amounted to only apples and puff pastry (I buy it at Sandrine, a local bakery) so I was ready to go. The recipe did not specify what pastry to use but judging from the video I believe it was puff pastry. It could be interesting to try it with filo as well but I am sure it wasn’t filo in the video.

The method is fairly straight forward. The only thing is to keep the pastry cold and to slice the apples very thin. I don’t know about your knife skills but I had to cut it on a mandoline slicer. Thin slices will be pliable enough to roll into petals as you roll up the pastry. The original recipe calls for cooking the apples in a microwave for 3 minutes to soften them, but I didn’t find it necessary, as long as the apples were sliced thin enough.

When you work with puff pastry it is imperative to keep it cold. Don’t let it sit on the counter as you work with the strips. I put the pastry roll in the freezer between rolling each piece. As you roll the apple pie roses place them in a muffin pan but be sure to keep the muffin pan in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. I kept the muffin pan in the fridge and added the pies in one by one, keeping them refrigerated the whole time. The problem with puff pastry is that if it gets warm the butter between the layers melts and the pastry will not puff as expected. It is also good to work on a cold surface, preferably marble. I put ice packs on my granite counter to cool it down as my kitchen is quite warm. It sounds complicated but really, it isn’t. Keep everything cold and it’s ready in no time.

So, do you think you’d try it? I kind of doubt that many would but the blog is intended to inspire so even if you made something else after seeing this, it’s all good.

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Recipe adapted from Scoopla.

Ingredients:

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1 sheet puff pastry, rolled thin (most bakeries will sell you rolls of puff pastry)

4 red skinned apples

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup sugar

Cinnamon

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Directions:

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Slice the apples in quarters and remove core.

Slice each quarter into thin slices on a mandoline and place the slices in the bowl with the lemons juice.

Remove the puff pastry from the fridge and roll it out. Cut the pastry into strips along the narrow end of the pastry sheet about 1.5 inch wide. See video to clarify. My pastry was about 10″ wide so the strips were 10″ X 1.5″.

Place the slices of apple one by one along the top of the pastry, overlapping on the top end of the pastry strip coming down to the middle only. Sprinkle the entire strip with sugar and a little cinnamon.

Now bring the bottom part of the pastry strip up, so they cover the bottom of the apple slices, and press it into place, securing the edges by pressing them together.

Begin rolling the pastry strip jelly roll style form right to left, keeping the apples in place by pressing them in a little as you roll. This is where a picture is worth a thousand words and you can watch the video to see how it’s done.

You should have a nice and tight rose formed. Place it in the muffin pan and keep the pan in the fridge while you roll the remaining pies. I keep the pastry in the freezer between rolls. It doesn’t freeze but it keeps it nice and cold.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

When the oven is ready place the muffin pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden and the apples are cooked. The original recipe says to bake for 30 minutes but i found that a little long. I also like to place the muffin pan on a larger baking sheet lined with silpat, to help prevent the pastry from burning on the bottom.

When the pastry is ready remove from the oven and let cool before removing from the pan.

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To serve:

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You can serve them on their own as a pastry, or to serve as a dessert melt vanilla ice cream (melted, ice creme is anglaise) and pour a little into each dessert dish. Place the apple pie rose on top of the sauce.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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