These lovely apple roses pull together all that is deliciously appealing about sweet baked apples and flakey crusts. What’s not to love! They have all the enticing, classic flavors of a great apple pie … only in these exquisite little packages (“blooms”) that look far more sophisticated to assemble than they really are.

Boxed puff pastry (found in the freezer section of most markets) lends these company-worthy apple roses an every-day ease. And with just a little organized effort on the assembly side, the roses bake up into perfect little “blooms” in no time, with each slice of apple naturally relaxing into an organic, petal-like form. A simple muffin tin is the secret to perfect little roses each and every time… keeping them snuggly in form as they bake.

Stemilt’s Jonagold apples, a great all-purpose variety with aromatic, honey-like sweetness, were used in this preparation but any of Stemilt’s wide selection of bake-friendly apples will work. Golden Delicious for its consistent sweet flavor, Piñata^® if you want a little tropical flavor twist, Braeburn if you are looking for a more robust profile with nutmeg and cinnamon tones, Pink Lady^® for a bit of a zippy tartness, or Granny Smith for that classic lemony punch so many apple pie lovers love. There’s a great, delicious range of Stemilt apples; a range that will surely befit a bounty of beautiful blooms.

One puff pastry sheet will make six apple roses. Here are 3 tips worth noting before you begin:

• Have all your ingredients prepped/measured and readily at hand to make the assembly process easy.

• Use a mandolin slicer to get a consistent slice of apple (thin… approximately 1/8-inch thick or less… thin as you can without tearing). Little hands can jump into the assembly process once everything is prepped and ready to go.

• Warm apple slices in microwave, as directed, just before you are ready to use them so they are more pliable and accepting of being rolled in your pastry sheet.

Apple Roses

Makes six roses

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 60 to 80 minutes, with 20 minute cool time

Level: Moderate

The key to these Apple Roses coming together with ease is having your butter, pecans, cinnamon-sugar mix, and apples prepped once your pastry is ready to dress. Then it’s just a simple, assembly line process before getting popped into the oven to “bloom”!

Ingredients:

• 2 Stemilt apples (any bake-friendly variety, as preferred), cored, stem-end trimmed
• juice from 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1 puff pastry sheet, defrosted
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup raisins
• ¼ cup powdered sugar (optional)
• flour and butter, for prep

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour one, 6-cup muffin pan; set aside.

• Using a mandolin slicer, place a cored and trimmed apple cut-side down on slicer (set to allow thin 1/8-inch slice, or less, without risk of tearing). Repeat with second apple. Place sliced apple “rings” on a microwave safe dish, drizzle with lemon juice, and cover with a paper towel; set aside.

• In a small bowl, whisk sugar and cinnamon together, to combine. Set aside. (Note: arrange/prep other ingredients… melted butter, pecans and raisins in separate bowls, ready at hand.)

• Lightly dust work surface with flour. Lay pastry sheet flat and cut into thirds along 3-panel fold marks, creating three rectangles. Working with one rectangle of puff pastry at a time, gently roll sheet to an approximate 12-inch by 5-inch rectangle, approximately 3/8-inch thick. (Note: Getting the recommended thickness with a good 5-inch width (on short end) to your rectangle of pastry is most important. If you have to sacrifice length, that’s okay. Anywhere between 10 inches and 12 inches in length is fine.) Then cut rectangle horizontally to create two long strips (10- to 12 inches in length, 2.5” wide). Gently lay strips aside on a lightly floured surface, without overlapping them. Repeat procedure with two remaining thirds of pastry. Place 2 strips of pastry on your floured work surface (with other 4 strips set aside).

• Generously brush strips of pastry with melted butter, top with 1/3 of pecans and 1/3 of raisins, divided fairly evenly between two strips. Using fingers, gently press pecans and raisins into dough.

• Place apple “rings” into microwave for approximately 20 seconds. Remove, stack several rings together and slice in half; continue until all rings are halved (creating “moons”).

• Beginning layering apple “moons” along top length of each pastry strip (curve side at top), overlapping each by half and allowing the top curved part of each slice to expose/hang over top edge of pastry (thus keeping the bottom half of pastry length clear as this portion will fold up over the apple slices you lay in a row across length of pastry strip.)

• Working with one strip at a time, fold bottom half of pastry strip length up over row of overlapping apple slices so that the bottom edge and top edge of pastry length are approximately in line with one another (top portion of apple slices will peek out of pocketed fold).

• Then… working from one end of folded pastry strip to the other, begin rolling to form rose. (Note: if you find that it works better, you may want to use one hand to roll and one hand to keep fold of pastry strip pocketed over apples as you roll.)

• Once rolled, pull the exposed end of dough edge at end of roll just a little to press and “seal” rose form at its base. Place rose in prepared muffin tin; repeat process with remaining pastry strips.

• Bake in center rack of oven for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove to wire rack to cool.

• Optional: Once cooled, lightly dust with powdered sugar.

Serve immediately or store in airtight container overnight. (Best eaten shortly after baking).

 

Nutritional Information (per individual rose, with powdered sugar):

Per Serving: Calories 237 (48.9% from fat); Fat 12.9g (sat 3.5g, poly 2.3g, mono 5.2g); Protein 1.8g; Carbohydrates 31.8g; Fiber 3.3g; Sugar 23.6g; Cholesterol 10.4mg; Potassium 120.6mg; Sodium 35.9mg.

Categorized in: Recipes