Apple Roses

September-November: National Apple Months

Highlander’s late father and late sister, Nancy Z., and her family lived in Tyler, Texas, the “Rose Capital of the World”. While visiting this East Texas city, we toured the beautiful Tyler Municipal Rose Garden and Tyler Rose Museum. The garden officially opened in 1952 after several years of preparing the grounds. There are 14 acres featuring 35,000 rose bushes and more than 500 varieties of roses. The 7,500 square-foot museum, opened 40 years later in 1992, is located by the garden and showcases Tyler’s rose-growing industry and regal gowns, crowns and memorabilia collected from the annual fall Rose Festival (since 1933).

Inspired by the flowers from Tyler, we made “apple roses”, a dessert using puff pastry and thinly sliced apples. This is a simple and sweet reminder of the town where Highlander’s dad and sister are resting in peace. Apple roses are also appropriate to make during National Apple Months.

Recipe

(Adapted from Puff Pastry)

Ingredients

• 2 apples (red delicious)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Directions

Fill a large bowl halfway with water. Stir in the lemon juice (this helps prevent the apple slices from browning too much). Wash and dry the apples. Cut them in half down the middle. Discard the core. Cut into paper thin slices (if it is too thick, the slices will not be as flexible when rolling). Microwave for about 3-5 minutes to soften the apples. Set aside.

Unwrap the thawed puff pastry onto a lightly floured clean surface. Use a rolling pin to stretch the dough to a 12×9 inch rectangle. Slice into 6 strips (2×9 inches long). In a small bowl, combine two tablespoons of water with the apricot preserves. Microwave for about a minute. Stir. Brush this mixture on the strips of puff pastry.

Drain the apple slices. Pat dry. Place an apple slice partly above the top edge of the strip. Place another apple slice to overlap with the previous slice. Repeat until you reach the end of the strip. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Take the bottom edge of the puff pastry and fold up in half. Carefully roll the strip from one end to the other.

Set in the well of a lightly greased cupcake pan. Continue making the rest of the apple roses. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the puff pastry is cooked through (see Notes). Remove the apple roses from the pan and let cool slightly on wire racks. Place on plates. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar. Serve warm.

Notes

• To prevent the apple skins from burning too much, remove from the oven after 30 minutes and cover loosely with foil. Continue to bake until the puff pasty is cooked through.
• Try the rose-flavored tea cupcakes or the rosé wine cake recipes.
• Search our blog for other apple recipes.