Apple Roses
Ingredients:
1 large red apple, cored and very thinly slice 1/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed 1/4 cup melted butter 1 egg 2 teaspoons water 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar (optional)
Method: 1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Butter muffin pan 2. Place apple slices on a plate, overlapping slightly if necessary. Microwave on High about 45 seconds just until slices have softened a bit. Cover plate with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. 3. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. 4. Roll puff pastry sheet to less than 1/8-inch thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut two 3-inch by 12-inch rectangles. Reserve remaining pieces for another use. 5. Spread melted butter over dough; top with a generous amount of cinnamon-sugar. Place apple slices along 1 long edge of dough, about 1/4 inch beyond edge of dough, overlapping slices slightly. Fold bottom half of dough over the apple slices to form a long "folder" of dough with rounded edges of apple slices exposed. 6. Beat egg and water together in a bowl. Paint surface of dough with egg wash. Sprinkle with more cinnamon-sugar, to taste. Starting from one end, roll dough not too tightly to form a rose-shaped pastry. Seal roll with end of dough strip. 7. Transfer roses to prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon-sugar. Place ramekins directly on middle rack of preheated oven. 8. Bake until well browned, about 45 minutes. Remove ramekins with tongs and place on baking sheet to cool 5 to 10 minutes. Remove apple roses from mufgin pan and finish cooling on rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
