Baked Apple Turnovers

These are nice little hand pies, the perfect size for tiny hands.  Big hands too; they pair nicely with Lovey's coffee in the morning.  They are simply apple pie filling inside puff pastry and baked.  You can also make with a regular pie dough crust and also fry them.



Lovey likes flaky and baked and that's how this recipe is made; adapted from Biltmore Estate Specialties of the House cookbook.  I bought this while living in North Carolina during the year of Biltmore's 100th Anniversary.

This particular recipe was used when the Vanderbilt's lived in the estate and was taken from The Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery which is a Victorian cookbook from the Biltmore Estate collection.

This is my favorite kitchen gadget when there are lots of apples to core, peel and slice.

To make the filling combine the 1st seven ingredients in a saucepan.


 

They'll cook, covered until the apples are almost tender.  With a slotted spoon remove the apples to a bowl. 





This is the liquid that the apples produced.  Different apples will produce different amounts of liquid.  Add the preserves to the liquid and mix well.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook down until it is thickened.  You don't want it too runny.  

If your liquid is not thickening up you can thicken it with a corn starch slurry.  Just measure your liquid.  A good rule of thumb is 1 Tbsp. of corn starch to 1 cup liquid.  Dissolve the corn starch in a small bowl or jar with a little water (or some of the liquid).  Bring the liquid to a boil and whisk in the slurry.  Keep whisking until the sauce thickens.

Set aside and allow to cool.  You do not want to put warm or hot filling onto the puff pastry.

I used these.  If you are industrious enough to make your own,  have at it.  Not me.

Roll out the puff pastry to 1/8" thickness.

Cut into rounds with a 4-1/2 inch round cutter.
 
 

Place 2 Tbsp. of the apples in the center of each pastry round.  Top with a little of the preserves sauce.

Moisten the edges of the round with water; fold pastry over and crimp edges with a fork to seal.  Place the hand pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush each pie with the egg and sprinkle each with sugar.

Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to insure the puff pastry is very cold.

Bake for 12 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Apple Turnovers
Adapted from Biltmore Estate Specialties of the House
Yields 1 dozen

Ingredients:
4 small cooking apples (I used Honeycrisp)
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. bourbon (or water)
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
a few gratings of fresh nutmeg
Puff Pastry
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 large egg
granulated sugar

Mise en place

• If your puff pastry is frozen, thaw out according to package (you may need to do this the night before)
• peel apples, core and thinly slice
• sift powdered sugar and measure
• measure out butter, water & cinnamon & preserves
• grate lemon rind
• lightly beat the egg in a small bowl
• have some granulated sugar on the side for sprinkling on top of the turnovers

Method:
Combine the first seven ingredients in a medium saucepan; cover and cook over medium heat until the apples are almost tender, stirring often.  Remove the apples to a bowl with a slotted spoon.  Add the preserves to the liquid that remains in the pan and mix well.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook down until it is thickened.  You don't want it too runny.  Set aside to cool.  see note below

Roll pastry to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut into rounds with a 4-1/2 -inch round cutter.  Place 2 Tbsp. apple mixture in center of each pastry round; top each with 1 tsp. preserves mixture.  Moisten edges of pastry rounds with water; fold pastry over apple mixture and crimp the edges.  Place turnovers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush with the egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to insure the puff pastry is very cold.  Otherwise, it may not puff very well.  Preheat oven to 425°F

Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE:  If your liquid is not thickening up you can thicken it with a corn starch slurry.  Just measure your liquid.  A good rule of thumb is 1 Tbsp. of corn starch to 1 cup liquid.  Dissolve the corn starch in a small bowl or jar with a little water (or some of the liquid).  Bring the liquid to a boil and whisk in the slurry.  Keep whisking until the sauce thickens.

Applesauce from Scratch

A friend from church has an apple tree at her place in New Mexico and she brought a bunch to Sunday school to share.   I've been wanting to make my own applesauce for some time and this seemed to be a good batch to make it with.  They were tart, yet sweet enough.

I selected the easiest recipe I could find and it just so happened to be in this book by one of my favorite food authors, Ruth Reichl.

After coring, peeling and slicing the apples cover them with water.  Throw a couple sticks of cinnamon in the pot and add a good squeeze of lemon.

Let them simmer until the apples are very tender.



Remove the cinnamon sticks.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the apples to the bowl of the food processor (don't throw away the liquid!).  If you think the consistency is too thick you can add a little of the water.

NOTE:  Use the pulse option and check often so that you don't process it too much.




That's it!  Jar it up and stick it in the refrigerator.

That's all there is to it!  You can use as little or as many apples as you want with enough water to cover them.

You can add a little cinnamon if you like but mine was perfectly flavored with a hint of cinnamon from the sticks.  I also did not add any sugar.  It simply didn't need it but I suppose you could add some of you wanted.

I didn't need to add any of the cooking water either.





But it made a wonder hot, sipping drink (probably be great with a splash of Maker's Mark in it).

French Apple Tart

The Sunday Food Section of a 1987 edition of the Dallas Morning News published a recipe for French Apple Tart.  The recipe was provided by Univanille International which was a vanilla growers’ cartel in Paris.  I’m not sure this group is still active.

There are several components to this tart; the crust, a filling, the apples and a glaze.

The crust was the most intriguing.  It is truly like no other that I’ve made.

Never have I used ¼ cup of cinnamon in anything.

Also, it is called a Vanilla Crust but believe me, it’s a cinnamon crust. 

Just look at how dark the dough is!  The cinnamon is such a prominent flavor, you can’t detect the dibby dabby  amount of vanilla at all.

The crust mixed up easily and rolled out between two sheets of wax paper lessened the stickiness issue.

Roll your pin over the top of the tart pan to trim extra crust.

Preparing the applesauce filling was a little strange.  You start out with 17-1/2 ounces of unsweetened applesauce and cook it down to only 16 ounces (2 cups).  With such a small reduction the applesauce neither thickened up nor developed any depth in flavor as you would expect when you reduce something, so I’m not sure why this step was necessary.

The preparation of the apples and the glaze were simple enough.

Peeling, coring and slicing apples has been a breeze with this brilliant little apparatus.

I purchased it from L.L. Bean over 15 years ago when Lovey began requesting an apple pie twice a week.  Through the years it has become a dear companion.

Assembly was also elemental.

The applesauce/apricot mixture is poured into the semi-baked pie crust.

Then the apple slices are placed on top of the filling in concentric circles.

The tart baked up nicely and the glaze was carefully brushed onto the baked apples.

I let it cool overnight before trying a piece.  The tart produced a lot of liquid (applesauce perhaps??) that seeped away from the tart, onto the pie plate.  In taste testing, it was not too sweet.  The crust was definitely cinnamon-y; almost had some heat to it, like fresh ginger does.  But, I must say it is not a bad crust.  The tart as a whole was a little bland but could have potential with a couple of changes. Lastly, I think a scoop of a good quality vanilla ice cream on top would make it oh so much better.

French Apple Tart

Serves 8

For the Crust

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cinnamon

1/3 cup cold butter

2 Tbsp. cold water

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mise en place:

• cut butter into cubes and keep in refrigerator
• measure out water and keep in refrigerator
• measure flour, sugar & cinnamon into a food processor  bowl (be sure to fit the metal wing blade in the bowl before putting ingredients in)
• separate egg
• measure out vanilla
• spread a sheet of plastic wrap onto counter top

Method:

Process the dry ingredients with a couple of pulses to blend together.  Add the cold butter cubes and process until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Through the feed tube, add 2 Tbsp. cold water, the egg yolk and 1 tsp vanilla extract.  Process just until the mixture leaves sides of bowl and forms a ball.

On plastic wrap, flatten to a 5-inch round.  Wrap and chill at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

When you are ready to roll out your dough, work quickly and roll on a lightly floured board or between sheets of wax paper into a 12-inch round.  Ease into a 9-inch tart pan.  Trim by rolling your rolling pin gently over the top of the tart pan edges.  Chill until firm.  Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 5 minutes.  Chill before filling.

For the Filling & Apples

Ingredients:

1 (171/2 ounce) jar unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup apricot preserves

3 Tbsp butter (divided)

2 tsp vanilla extract

12 ounces tart apples

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Mise en place:

• Measure out applesauce, preserves, & vanilla and set aside
• divide butter into 1 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp portions; place the 2 Tbsp in small microwave bowl for melting
• squeeze fresh lemon juice
• peel, core and slice apples 1/4 inch thick & toss in a bowl with the lemon juice (you should have about 2-1/2 cups apples)

Method:

In a medium saucepan, cook applesauce over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until reduced to 2 cups, about 10 minutes (I would reduce to 1 to 1-1/2 cups).  Remove from heat and add apricot preserves and 1 Tbsp of the butter.  Cool, stirring occasionally.  Add vanilla extract.  Pour into chilled crust.

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Arrange apple slices in concentric circles over applesauce.  Melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter; drizzle over apples.

Bake until apples are tender and lightly browned, 40 to 45 minutes.

Apricot Glaze - Just before tart is done, prepare the glaze

Ingredients:

1/4 cup apricot preserves

1 Tbsp water

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Force the preserves through a sieve.  In a small saucepan or skillet, bring preserves and the water to a boil; cool slightly, Stir in the vanilla.

When Tart comes out of oven, carefully brush the glaze over the hot apples.  Cool tart on a wire rack.  Serve warm or cool.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you wish.