Pastry Wrapped Caramel Apples~

Don't baked apples sound like the perfect autumn dessert?  And what about those filled with caramel?  Even better. I'd eaten a sub par baked apple recently with more crust than apple...I knew I could do better.  I found a video of these stunning gems:  peeled baking apples were dipped in cinnamon sugar, wrapped in strips of grocery store puff pastry, then filled with caramel sauce from a jar.  Simple and beautiful.  Of course, these would be out of this world with home made puff pastry and caramel sauce, but still pretty spectacular with store bought versions.

Puff pastry works best when chilled and then baked in a hot oven.  My apples were probably a smidge bigger than medium, and with tweaking the recipe to include a bit of chilling time, my apples were still a bit firm when baked. I'd recommend turning down the oven temp at about the 20 minute mark and extending the baking time.  Check apples for tenderness with a sharp knife a couple times as they transform to a lovely golden brown.

Pastry Wrapped Caramel Apples...adapted from Pepperidge Farm

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled
1/2 cup caramel sauce
10 ounce package of Trader Joe's puff pastry (or another brand of puff pastry may be substituted)
Vanilla ice cream 

Heat the oven to 400º.  

Stir the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl.  Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.  Using a melon baller, scoop the cores out of the apples from the top, making sure to leave the bottoms intact.

Coat the apples with the cinnamon mixture.

Place the pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface.  Roll each pastry sheet into a 10 x 9 inch rectangle.  Cut each into 9 1-inch strips  Moisten ends with water and then press 4 pastry strips together to make 1 strip.  Repeat to make 4 long strips total.  Cut 8 leaf shapes from the leftover pastry.

Starting at the bottom, wind 1 pastry strip around 1 apple, slightly overlapping the edges of the pastry.  Repeat with the remaining pastry strips and apples.  Top each with 2 pastry leaves.  Spoon 2 tablespoons caramel sauce into each apple.  Brush the apples with the egg wash.  Place the pastries onto a baking sheet covered with parchment or a Silpat. Chill briefly, 20-25 minutes.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.  Serve the pastries with the ice cream.  Mine were dark enough, but not fully cooked at 25 minutes.  You may want to lower the temp and bake another 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of your apples.


Makes 4.

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A bit news:  I will be participating in an online bake sale from October 8 through October10 at Foodness Gracious to raise funds for The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I'll be donating a batch of Kahlua Brownies.  I hope you'll consider bidding on them or one of the other wonderful contributions.

And more news:  I was nominated for most valuable foodie (blushing here) by Foodbuzz.  Please check out all the incredible nominees and vote for your favorites here. Thanks for the honor!!!! xoxo

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