I went to a farm a few weeks ago with my family, and we picked a lot of apples.  By a lot, I mean almost 20 lbs of apples.  The farm had 8 varieties of apples when we were there, and we got a little caught up in the moment.  The only person who eats apples in my house is my 5 year old daughter, and it literally takes her 2-3 days to finish one apple.  The apples have been taking up an entire drawer in my fridge for some time now.  A few of them were getting wrinkled so I made a big batch of apple sauce to freeze.  My daughter has wanted pie for a while now, but instead of making a regular apple pie, I decided to get a little fancy.  Several baked apple rose videos and posts have been circulating, and I’ve always wanted to try it out.  And what do you know, a box of puff pastry has been taking up space in my freezer.

I used the entire box of puff pastry.  Each sheet makes 6 pastries, so I made 12 total.  I used around 4 medium sized apples.  Leave the peel on since that is part of the visual appeal of the apple rose.  Too bad I didn’t have any red apples or the apple roses would have looked even more stunning.  I washed and cut the apples in half.

I sliced them thinly into 1/8″ slices.  Feel free to use a mandolin if you have one.  I didn’t bother coring the apple first.  After I finished slicing, I cut out any seeds and hard bits to avoid wasting any of the apple.

I put the slices into a microwave safe bowl with water and the juice of one lemon.  Then I microwaved it all for about 4-5 minutes, until the apple slices turned floppy.

I melted half a stick of butter.  I did not measure how much Nutella I used, but it was around 1/4-1/3 cup.  I also forgot to measure how much cinnamon sugar I used, but it was also around  1/4-1/3 cups of sugar and a few shakes of cinnamon.  Obviously, you can use more cinnamon sugar and Nutella if you want.

I used a little of the melted butter to grease the muffin tin.  Then I sprinkled sugar over the butter.

This is the first sheet of puff pastry on my silicon baking mat.

I sprinkled a little flour over the dough, and stretched it out with my rolling pin.  I rolled it until it was approximately 12″ wide.

I used a pizza cutter to slice 2″ strips.  If you are a neat freak and trim off the edges to make it prettier, do not throw away the scraps.  Make a random crisp with it, but don’t toss it!

I used a spoon to slather the melted butter over the pastry.  I used up all the butter on this sheet, because I didn’t need butter for the second one.  You’ll see.  I sprinkled cinnamon sugar over the butter.  You can be as heavy with the cinnamon sugar as you want.  The more you use, the gooier and sweeter the pastry will be.  I went light since this was my first time making it.

Pat the apple slices dry and overlap them in a line along half of the dough strip.

Fold the other half of the dough over the apples.

Roll the apples and dough up.

Put the apple roses into the muffin tin.

For the second sheet of puff pastry, I smeared Nutella over them.  I read recipes using preserves, and that sounds like a delicious idea too.  But I happened to have Nutella on hand, and no preserves.

Roll your Nutella apple roses.

Bake these at 375°F for 40-45 minutes.

Let them cool for 5-10 minutes before pulling them out of the tin.  I used a butter knife to dislodge them, and then tongs to pick them up.

Apple rose with powdered sugar.

Apple rose with a big dollop of home made whipped cream and cinnamon.

Apple Rose
Ingredients
– 4 medium sized apples
– 1 box of puff pastry
– 1 lemon
– half a stick of butter
– 1/4-1/3 cup Nutella
– 1/4-1/3 cup sugar
– cinnamon

Directions
– Slice the apples thinly into 1/8″ slices.  Leave the peel on.  Place the slices into water mixed with lemon juice.  Microwave the bowl for 4-5 minutes or until the apples turn floppy.
– Melt the butter and use a little of it to grease the muffin tin.  Save the rest.  Sprinkle sugar over the butter in the tin.
– Mix the sugar with a few shakes of cinnamon to make cinnamon sugar.
– If your lump of Nutella is hard to spread, microwave it for 30 seconds or until it softens.
– Roll the first sheet of pastry dough out until it stretches to about 12″ wide.  Cut 2″ strips.  Spread the rest of the butter over the strips, and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.
– Pat the apple slices dry, and then overlap them in a line across half of a dough strip.  Fold the other half over the apples.  Roll the strip up into a rose.  Put the roses into the muffin tin.  Continue with the other 5 strips.
– Roll the second sheet of pastry dough out and stretch it to about 12″ wide.  Cut 2″ strips.  Spread the Nutella over the strips.
– Pat the apple slices dry, and overlap them in a line across half of a dough strip.  Fold the other half over the apples.  Roll the strip into a rose.  Put the rose into the muffin tine and continue with the other 5 strips.
– Bake at 375°F for 40-45 minutes until the pastries brown.  Let them cool slightly before removing them.