I only had three apples from my little tree this year . Ok, work with it. So this is one way to share the "harvest-wealth". Saw it on a social page a while back , but it did not come with a recipe, just pics. I did my best first pass with what I think could work for home bakers. I will admit this is a work in progress and it would be wonderful to hear from other bakers out there. A little constructive input could help develope the best recipe. My own contributions/tips would be to one used a vegetable grater to grate the frozen butter and refreeze. Second would be to elevate the flavor of apples with boiled cider. if you have any input, tips or suggestions or just nice words, feel free to post in comments. Creative processes and knowledge of all things culinary is a gift to everyone. There is a PDF below the recipe for easy download and reprint. Oh also post some pics tag me so I can see your work) if you get the hang of it. Dont forget the ice cream. I didnt mention this in the notes and as you can see from my pics the red apple doesnt really show, but I also brushed the tops with boiled cider and that contributed to the darkening which did help the pedals to stand out.
Apple Rose Tartlets
makes 10- 12 tartlets depending on the apples and rolling
3 large apples of various colors firm.
2 cups of water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice one large lemon. save lemon peel for water
store pack puff pastry or homemade puff pastry* see recipe below
1/3 cup apricot jam or other Jam such as raspberry.
1/4 cup Boiled cider * recipe below
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
casting sugar optional
1/2 cup flour for dusting
rolling pin, pastry brush , small bowl, cutting board, knife or wheel cutter, 4 quart pot , measure utensils, 2 tea towels, 3 in. Tartlet pans , or muffin pans, (do you know the muffin pan, the muffin pan, the muffin pan?)
for homemade puff pastry make a day ahead
2 cups of All purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup frozen UNSALTED butter two sticks grated and frozen again*
4 ounces cream cheese and tablespoon of ice water or 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt (Greek is fine)
blend flour, salt and baking powder in bowl. Remove grated butter from freezer and add to flour blend gently to coat butter. If using the cream cheese, add cream cheese in small bits all around mixture and then drizzle the two tablespoons of water over mixture . If using yogurt , add to mixture after butter. blending with your hands is best although you can use paddle attachment with electric mixer on low. Blend until dough forms a loose crumbly ball ,about 5 minutes, try to resist adding more water but if the mixture is to crumbly not coming together wet finger tips and go back at it. when crumbly ball forms bring to lightly floured work surface. begin rolling out to a rectangle 12 x8 . lightly dust with flour and fold in thirds so you have a 4x8 block of dough, this is called the trifold. Like a paper going into a legal size envelope. repeat this step two more times. roll out to 12x8 trifold, repeat. dusting lightly with flour each time . this dough is ready for the frig or freezer. Imagine that . You now have puff pastry ready to go. You did it! how easy was that? Freeze for up to two months well wrapped and sealed in a freezer bag. Otherwise Wrap well and refrigerate overnight for use the next day.
boiled cider:
you can buy it online or make your own. Half gallon of good cider, boil until reduced to 11- 12 ounces 348 ml.
place in jar with lid last forever in the refrigerator. use it to flavor all sorts of things. Intense apple flavor , Oohh ,apple pancakes, yummy.
Making the Apple rose Tartlets
apple prep
In a pot blend water, sugar and lemon juice. set aside. Prepare apples wash well, slice in half remove core and stem from each . slice very thinly the thickness of a spoon handle or U.S. quarter (or a quid, as in "lend me a couple quid mate I'm Skint.") set in a pot. continue to slice until all apple are sliced you should get between 12-17 slices per apple half depending on your apple sizes.
Jammy jam blend.
next blend jam, boiled cider, cinnamon, and all spice together in small bowl . set aside.
oh yah now is a good time to Start the oven , set to 400f or 205 c we go high then immediately to 350f or 180c after placing apple roses in oven and closing the door. lower that rack to second to last rack holder in oven.
Remove dough from frig, On lightly floured work surface roll out dough to 16 x 18 or 40x 46 cm make 1 & 1/4 inch , 4 cm slices lengthways so you have 1&1/4 inch x 16 or 4cm x 40 cm strips. you may get 10 to 12, depends on your rolling and the spring back that happens during slicing. It is what it is. just be sure the dough is rolled out as close to dimensions as possible , Use a ruler for gosh sake. cover with tea towel and walk away for a few minutes, move on to apple slices.
simmer apple slices in the water blended mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes WATCHING . do not let the apples get mushy. Just flexible like, but not breaky, not mushy, just bendy. Once bendy remove from hot water through strainer and spread out on a tea towel to dry a bit. let cool. Bounce back over to dough strips. hey, did you remember to turn the oven on? just asking... this dough depends upon heat for puffing... (insert wisecrack here)
Back to the dough, brush each dough strip with the jammy mixture in your jammies if your an early morning get up and go person. Coat strips completely. The jam may be lumpy, cool who cares, it will melt in hot oven.
Spritz the muffin pan or tartlet cups with oil or use a cloth and oil .If using silicon mold no need to spritz.
Starting with first sticky strip, lay the apples on the strip with each apple slice overlapping slightly. You want a good amount of apple showing on the top hanging off the dough. Apples should be about 1 cm or 1/4 inch over the top part of the dough , there should be a bit of dough strip visible across the entire bottom. Not to high not to low , halfway down is just right. Lightly Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar across entire apple and dough strip. Now its time for some rolling, two hands peoples! carefully support the top and bottom and gingerly (emm ginger jam would be good too ,opps sorry ,culinary distraction ). Support the roll as you roll, not tight, loose but dont let the apple slices slide out, thus the drying does help with this. Imagine its your yoga matt only with apples and sticky stuff on it. Next, With two hand lift your yummy goodness and place (again) gingerly into one of your cup holders or tartlet pans. Repeat this until all are done. It helps to sing the Hit rap song Rollin' by Chamillionaire. Oh did you not have enough apples to complete the job? No worries just sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the left over dough roll up and bake along with tartlets. it’s your little treat for making pretty things, you did good you deserve it.
At this point you can sprinkle a bit more cinnamon sugar or some of the fancy glittery casting sugar on the tops, for show. Now place in oven on the lower rack ) close door reduce oven to 350f 200c set the timer for 35 minutes. don’t open that door. Well, you can peak after 15. If stuff is getting to dark go lower by 25 degrees . they are done about when the aroma of baked apples and brown butter fill the house. Or the bottoms are light brown like nice cherry wood color. If they are not browning nicely , remove the pan, move tarts to a flat cookie sheet and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. that should do the trick. now let them cool on a rack don’t eat these beauties hot. you will burn your mouth on the molten lava jam inside. serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and pretty mint or basil leaves in cute little dishes.
Let me address the making ahead question; not to far ahead. apples will continue to leach out their apply goodness, making soggy bottoms. who likes soggy bottoms?... no one. so how about no longer then 12-16 hours .the night before is cool. That’s what I do. they can be warmed in preheated 350f/200c oven for some 5 minutes or so. not to much again, molten lava effect.
feel free to reach out for questions or comments or because I love other's suggestions and inspirational ideas any corrections or input you might have.
Warmest Regards,
Teri aka the Vineyard baker
click the link below for a downloadable PDF
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