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Simple Apple Turnover

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Apple turnovers are so easy to make, especially with ready made puff pastry. Nobody can resist a warm apple filling with light and flaky crust.

– Why should you try making these apple turnovers?

Because they are super easy to make and so good with a cup of coffee or tea, especially in this cold weather.

– Can I make the apple filling ahead of time?

Absolutely, you can make the apple filling in advance and store in the refrigerator for a couple of days before assembling the turnovers.

– How can I serve these apple turnovers?

There are so many possibilities…with coffee or tea, with ice cream, with a dollop of whipped cream, and with whatever your palate calls for.

– Can I reheat the apple turnovers?

Yes! You can reheat the turnovers in the air-fryer or in the oven at low temperature for a few minutes and the turnovers will be crispy and flaky just like freshly baked. Do not us the microwave ad the puff pastry will be soft and soggy.

– Are you ready to see what I did?

Ingredients:

Apple filling

  • 850 g apple peeled and cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 15 g corn starch mixed in 20 ml of water
  • 1 package of ready-made puff pastry
  • Egg for egg wash

How to:

Mix all the ingredients on the apple filling list, except for the cornstarch mix and place in a medium pan under a medium heat.  Cook for approximately 4 to 5 minutes, until the apples are slightly soft.

Sprinkle the cornstarch mix into the apple, mix and cook for another 30 seconds.

Remove from the heat and let it cool.

At this point you can store into the refrigerator to use in later time or continue to assembly the turnovers after the apple filling is completely cool.

Preheat the oven to 400oF.

Lightly flour your work surface. Unfold puff pastry sheets. Using a rolling pin, roll over the pastry to seal any perforations. Cut each sheet into 4 squares.

Scoop 2 -3 tablespoons of apple filling (I like my turnovers loaded with apples), on one side of the square and fold over to form a rectangle. Use a fork to crimp all around the edges to seal.

Place the turnovers on a baking sheet spacing them. Cut 2 to 3 slits in the tops of each turnover.

Wisk the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the turnovers with the egg wash square.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the turnovers are golden and puffed.

Remove the baking sheet form the oven and let the turnovers cool in a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

– If you enjoy this recipe, you might want to take a look at these…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Apple Cinnamon Buns

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These are delicious, soft and cottony buns filled with pieces of sweet apples and a hint of cinnamon. Great as breakfast or afternoon snack.

Now that Autumn is here, there are all kind of apples in the market. Why not use the seasonal fruits to fill the buns?

This is an Asian version of apple cinnamon buns…I used the tangzhong method for the dough, therefore the dough is super light and fluffy and the buns stay fresh and soft for many days.

More details about tangzhong can be found HERE.

– Why are these rolls so delicious?

The combination of the soft and cottony dough with small pieces of apples are just so delicious…every bite comes with apple…giving a feeling of warmth…Autumn is here.

– Can I substitute apples for any other fruit?

Pears will work well for these buns.

– Are you ready to give these buns a try?

Ingredients:

Tangzhong or water roux

  • 50 g bread flour
  • 250 ml water

Bread dough

  • 550 g bread flour
  • 90 g sugar
  • 7 g salt
  • 7 g yeast
  • 75 g non-fat dry milk
  • 2 eggs (minus 1 ½ tablespoon), approximately 100 g
  • 55 ml water
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 100 g butter

Apple Filling

  • 400 g apple peeled and cut into small pieces
  • 65 g sugar
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Method:

Tangzhong or water roux

Whisk together the water and the flour until the mixture is well blended and free of lumps.

Stir the mixture while it cooks over the medium heat to reach 65C/150F. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken. The mixture of flour will have “lines”.

Remove from the heat.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with a plastic film to avoid “skin” from forming.

Ready to add to the bread dough once is cool.

Water roux or Tangzhong can bend kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Bread dough

In the mixer, add all the water roux, and all the other ingredients under bread, except for the butter.

Turn the machine and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until a uniform very wet and sticky dough.

Increase the speed to “2” and let it mix for 15 minutes. The dough should be very sticky. Do not add extra flour as the dough will be less sticky as gluten forms.

Add the butter and mix for 15 to 20 minutes more. Take a small portion of the dough (like a golf ball) and stretch gently until a very thin and transparent membrane (windowpane).

If the dough tears, mix for another 2-3 minutes until you achieve the windowpane test. This test demonstrates that the gluten is very well developed, and it will create a very light crumb. The dough should be very elastic.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let dough proof until the dough tripled to its original size.

In the meantime, make the apple filling.

Apple Filling

In a medium pot, place all the ingredients listed under apple filling.  Cook under high heat for approximately 10 minutes, until the apples are slightly soft.

Remove from the heat and let it cool. Set Aside until ready to assemble the rolls.

Assembly

Knock back the dough and divide into 2 balls. Roll one dough into a rectangle of approximately 45 x 35cm (approximately 18 x 14in). Smear a thin layer of butter or its substitute on the rectangle dough.

Evenly sprinkle ½ of the apple filling, roll it like a Swiss roll from the long edge, and roll it into a tight log. Turn the seam to the bottom. Make a small mark on the log in the middle and then into 4 and again and again until you have the log divided into 16.

Gently cut on the mark without smashing the rolls.  Place the rolls in a square or round pan, I used the 2 small round pan and one ring pan.

Cover and let it rise, approximately double of its original size. Brush with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 350oF for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and let it cool.

– If you like this recipe and looking for more Asian baked good, please check these out…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Apple Tarte Tatin

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This is somehow a combination of caramel apple and apple pie…the slices of apples are covered with caramel and layer on a buttery, tender and flaky crust…absolutely yum!

– Have you ever tried apple tarte tatin?

Well, this is my very first time and I already can tell you that this is my favorite apple dessert…if you like caramel apple and apple pie you just landed on the right recipe.

– What is apple tarte tatin?

Apparently is a French version of apple pie…it is mainly an upside-down tart baked in skillet. You have one layer of crust topped with caramelized apple.

– How easy is to bake an apple tarte tatin?

In my opinion, is much easier than apple pie, since you just need one layer of crust…make the caramel in the skillet, layer the sliced apples (or halves) and top with the crust just before taking to the oven.

Once baked, just make sure to be careful…flip the skillet on a serving plate and voila…done! Delicious as it is or with vanilla ice cream, which I did not have…sniff sniff…but will make sure to have some next time around.

– Are you ready to try this out?

Ingredients:

Crust

  • 50 g butter
  • 20 g sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 120 g all-purpose flour
  • 20 g almond flour
  • 1 large egg

Caramel apple

  • 2 large apples, peeled and sliced into 8 slices each
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon Bourbon

Method:

In a bowl, add the cold butter, sugar, flour, almond flour, salt and using a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour until the texture resemble coarse cornmeal with butter pieces just like small peas.

Add the egg and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375oF if using convection oven or to 400oF for regular oven.

In the meantime, place the sugar in an oven proof skillet or cast-iron pan (about 8 inches or 20 cm) and turn the heat to medium high. Watch carefully as the sugar can burn very fast. Once the sugar turns to light brown swirl the pan carefully until the sugar turns amber brown.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the vanilla extract and Bourbon. Swirl gently and place the slice of apple, arranging them neatly. Place the pan back to the stove and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn the apples one by one carefully and cook for another 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat.

Lightly flour the work surface and the dough, then flatten the disk rolling pin by gently tapping the dough a few times from the middle to the top and bottom. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour if necessary or the rolling pin, then roll out into a round at approximately 9 inches in diameter.

Place the crust on top of the apples and tuck the pastry inside the skillet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes, invert the pan on top of a plate.

Serve warm or room temperature.

– Looking for easy desserts recipe? Ty these out…

Did you know that apples contain pectin? Pectin is used in the making of jam as a thickening agent. Moreover, pectin is a dietary soluble fiber which can help lower cholesterol.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Apple Cake

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This apple cake is delicious, loaded with apples with a hint of rum…perfect for the afternoon tea or coffee.

– Where did I see this recipe?

I have wanted to make this cake since I saw it at Zaza’s blog…and today I am sharing it with you.  The cake is pretty simple to put together, the only laborious step is the peeling and cutting the apples, other than that it is a piece of cake.

– How does the cake taste?

The cake has a quite dense crumb with a lovely hint of rum, the tartness of the apples combined with the sweetness of the cake is delicious especially accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee. I pretty much follow the recipe from Zaza only cut down a little of the sugar in the cake batter.

Oh, instead of one 8-inch round pan I poured the batter into 2 small pans (6-inch and 4.5-inch), to give my neighbor.

– Let’s go to the recipe…

Ingredients:

  • 125 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 100 g sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons dark rum
  • 3 small honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
  • Confectioners’ sugar for decorating cake

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line the bottom and the side of the springform pan with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Using a handled mixer with beaters cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla and rum. The batter will look grainy, add the flour mixture and mix gently until just combined. Add the apples and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and even the top. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the form, peel of the parchment paper and let the cakes cool on a rack.

Dust with Confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

– More recipes with apples?

If you enjoy this recipe with apple you might want to take a look at Simple Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.

Did you know that apples promote healthy in many ways? Apples contain high fiber content and it is a good source of vitamin C, polyphenols which can help fighting weight, cholesterol and heart disease.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Simple Apple Crostata

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This is a super easy version of apple pie, each slice of this crostata is packed with everything you find in an apple pie…the apple is moist and the crust is light and flaky…and even better served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to make a dessert with apple for a dinner, after thinking and surfing the internet for ideas I finally decided to go with an apple crostata, first because of the way it looked and second for its simplicity.

So, if you like apple pie, you will love the apple crostata, which is nothing more than an apple tart. For this apple crostata, I simply used all the ingredients as for to bake an apple pie…and yes, I cheated…I did not make the crust, came directly from Trader Joe’s freezer, but if you like making everything from scratch you have my respect…either way, I can guarantee that you will enjoy this recipe, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Talking about ice cream, have you ever heard of Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream? Well, if not you should see if there is any near you…the ice cream is to die for, made daily with the most fresh ingredients, once you try their ice cream you will not be able to settle for any other….anyway, so this is what we took to the dinner party.

This recipe was a compilation of many recipes from the internet, particularly from here.

Ingredients:

  • 500 g of apple, I used organic pink lady
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, about the juice of one medium lemon
  • 3 tablespoons of butter, melted
  • 1 beaten egg mix with ½ tablespoon water as egg wash
  • Swedish pearl sugar
  • Extra ground cinnamon for the crust

Method:

Make sure the crust is defrosted, according to the instruction of the package.

Preheat oven to 400F

In a small bowl mix the sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and set aside.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Place in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss it gently, making sure that every apple slice is coated with the lemon juice. Add the cinnamon and sugar mixture and then the melted butter. Again, making sure that the apple slices are coated.

Peel the pie crust and place on a parchment paper. Layer the apple slice orderly in one direction, leaving about 1 to 1.2 inch from the edge.  Once the crust is filled with the apple, fold the edge over the apple.

Brush the border with the egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and Swedish pearl sugar.

Bake for approximately 35 – 40 minutes or until the golden on the top.

Remove the crostata from the oven and let it cool before serving.

Note: I made another version which a thin layer of low sugar apricot jam (2 tablespoons) was added to the crust before adding the slices of apple, and proceeded as described above…absolutely delicious!

I hope you enjoy this simple version of apple pie.  You might want to take a look at Simple Apple Crisp or Apple Filled Buns recipes.

Did you know that apples contain pectin? Pectin is used in the making of jam as a thickening agent. Moreover, pectin is a dietary soluble fiber which can help lower cholesterol.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Apple Mint Salad

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This is a very simple, refreshing salad made mainly with apple, fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh mint. This salad is a great side dish for any occasion, especially with grilled meat or poultry…the refreshing and crisp apples with a hint of mint is very invigorating with fatty meal, giving the meal a nice balance.

I learned this recipe with my little sister when she brought a large bowl of this apple salad and we all loved it…I could not believe that such a simple recipe with only a few ingredients could be so good. The combination of the crispy apples with orange and a hint of mint is so pleasant for the palate. I meant to share this recipe a while ago but somehow never got to it…and now with July 4th approaching it is a perfect occasion to do so.

Mint…I love growing all kind of herbs, as a matter of fact I have a bunch of different herbs, more than I can ever use…it is so nice to be able to just pick what I need and use…anyway, let’s move to the recipe, which is not much of a recipe…just adjust to your taste…

Ingredients:

  • Apple as many as you need, preferably Fuji, Honeycrisp, Jazz or any crispy type.
  • Freshly squeezed orange to coat the apple
  • Fresh mint, to your taste
  • Salt, just a pinch
  • Olive oil, drizzled

Method:

Peel and core the apples, slice then thinly and cut into matchstick. Use a vegetable slicer or mandolin. Place them into a bowl.

Squeeze the orange juice over the apples and toss gently until the apples are coated with the juice.

Add a bit of salt and olive oil.

Toss in the thinly cut mint, mix gently. Serve cold.

I hope you enjoy this simple and healthy recipe using apple, you might want to take a look at Zucchini Ribbons Salad recipe.

Did you know that apples are high in fiber and loaded with antioxidants. Therefore apples may help your heart health and reduce risk of developing cancer.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Simple Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

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The sensation of sweet and tangy warm apple with bits of crispy oats together with chilly creamy ice cream is just delightful…

This is a very simple recipe that can be literally place together in a blink…there is nothing exclusive in terms of ingredients…but the combination is just splendid. This dessert sure emphasizes that simple is good.

Ingredients:

Apple Filling

2 apples, peeled and cut in small pieces

1 to 2 tablespoons raisins

½ tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

½ to ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch salt

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 tablespoon butter, cold cut in small pieces

Topping

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 ½ tablespoons quick oat

2 tablespoons butter, cold cut in pieces

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, toss together the apples, raisin, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt butter.  Add the corn starch and fold gently.  Divide the apple filling in 4 small baking dish and set aside.

For the topping:

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Use fork to mask the cold butter into the mix until large crumbs form.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the 4 baking dish with the apples. Bake until is golden brown and bubbling on top, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve the apple crisps warm with vanilla ice cream.

I  hope you enjoy the simplicity of this dessert by just combining a few ingredients.

Did you know that apples are extremely rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients? Therefore apples may help reduce risks of developing heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!



Apple Filled Little Buns

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Today I am sharing you a recipe for an Asian inspired bun recipe. These buns are filled with tangy soft apple. Because tangzhong or water roux method was used in this recipe, the little buns stay fresh and soft for days.

Yes, here I am with another simple recipe for bread…this time I decided to make a lighter version of bread dough as compared to the sweet dough. In spite of no heavy cream and less fat, this bread still turned out to be very light and fluffy…

With this one recipe I made two kind of bread, my usual Pullman sandwich loaf and buns filled with freshly cooked apple filling…yes, the buns turned out so good…light bread dough with sweet and a touch of tangy apple…fall is here, and this means lots of variety of apples to choose from…

I have a feeling that this bread recipe will be here to stay, especially that contain less fat and still has the same fluffiness of the other ones that I baked in the past.

In this recipe I added the butter after the gluten developed, therefore the butter did not interfere with the gluten formation, therefore the texture came out very light, fluffy and yet springy

During mixing stage, before the butter hit the bowl I was to tempted to add more flour, but was able to control myself and waited for a while…sure enough the dough eventually did not stick to the bottom of the bowl (due to gluten formation).

When adding the butter, because the gluten network has been formed already, please be aware that it will take a while until the butter incorporate into the dough…please be patience…all well worth it!

By the way, you will need a mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer) for this recipe, as the dough is very sticky and hard to handle. Here is the recipe, and indeed it is a very simple one, just make sure that you weight all the ingredients…I hope you get to try this one…oh! Both the sandwich loaf and the apple buns stay fresh for many many days…

Ingredients:

Water Roux or Tangzhong

  • 35 g bread flour
  • 175 g water

Main dough

  • 2 eggs slightly beaten minus 1 ½ tablespoons (use as egg wash)
  • 600 g bread flour
  • 90 g sugar
  • 50 g dry milk
  • 8 g sea salt
  • 8 g dry yeast
  • 120 ml water
  • 60 g butter

Apple Filling

  • 450 g Jazz apples, peeled and cut
  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 100ml water

Method:

Apple Filling

Soak the cut apple in a bowl of water with some lemon or lime juice

Drain and place the apple in a medium pan. Add the sugar, lemon or lime juice and water. Cook under high heat until boiling. Turn the heat to low and cook until most of the water is evaporated.

Add the vanilla extract and remove from the heat.

Let it cool completely before using on the dough.

Bread Dough

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65C (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

Place all the cooled water roux and all the ingredients listed under main dough into a mixer except for the butter. Mix until all the ingredients are together, it will be very sticky.

Increase the speed to number 2 and continue to mix for 5 to 10 minutes, until all dough comes out from the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Add the butter and continue the mixing until the dough is smooth and comes out of the mixing bowl, this will take approximately another 10 to 15 minutes. You will notice that the dough will no longer stick to the wall of the mixing bowl and pass the window pane test.

Place the dough into a medium to large bowl. Cover and let it proof until the size double from the original size.

Divide the dough into approximately 550g and 640g. Use the 550g for the Pullman loaf.

With the 640g dough, using a rolling pin shape the dough into a rectangle of approximately 28 x 38cm. Spread the apple filling evenly on the dough. Roll it like when making cinnamon rolls.

Cut into approximately 16 pieces. Place the rolls into a muffin pan.

Cover and let the buns proof until double its original size.

When ready to bake, use the leftover egg as an egg wash (add 1 teaspoon water) and brush gently on the buns.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 15 to 20 minute, until slightly golden brown.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you enjoy this Asian inspired recipe of bread, you might want to take a look at Sweet Milk Bread with Raisin or Matcha Swirl Sandwich Bread recipes.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!