Apple Turnovers

Recipe in video

Hey there, foodies!

This morning I was craving some good apple turnovers! Mmm! They're so delicious when they're still a little warm!

For breakfast or just as an afternoon snack, apple turnovers are a real treat.

For the recipe, you will need to make 1/2 recipe of puff pastry. Our recipe is here: Reverse puff pastry.

If you don't have time to make your own puff pastry, buy two rectangular store-bought puff pastry sheets. Sure, homemade puff pastry is the best of the best, but it will still be very very good with store-bought puff pastry. ;o)

Homemade puff pastry keeps very well in the freezer. So don't hesitate to make more and keep it in the freezer for later. :o)

For this recipe, I made an apple compote and caramelized apples to give a little texture to our turnovers.

For 12 apple turnovers, you will need:

- 5 apples (gala/golden)

- 1 tsp lemon juice

- 150gr water

- 1 tbsp maple syrup

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 30gr butter

- 30gr brown sugar

- 1 egg yolk

- 10gr heavy cream

We'll start with the apple compote!

Peel 2 apples and cut them into large cubes. Here I used Gala and Golden apples. I like to mix them — I find that the sweetness of the Golden and the acidity and firmness of the Gala work really well together.

Then add 1 tsp of lemon juice. Either fresh or pure juice. Definitely not concentrate!

Then add 150gr of water and 1 tbsp of maple syrup.

If you don't like maple syrup, just add a tablespoon of brown sugar instead. But maple syrup is so much better! :o)

Then place the saucepan on the heat, at full power.

Once the water boils, reduce the temperature to medium heat and always leave the saucepan uncovered. Don't put a lid on it!

When all the water has evaporated, your apples will be cooked.

Make sure that's the case, then blend your apples with a hand blender.

Once the apples are blended, add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. It will give a little extra something to our compote. :o)

Your compote will be quite dry — that's normal! Not covering the saucepan during cooking has helped evaporate as much water as possible! That's intentional. We want the compote to stay nicely inside our turnovers during baking.

Set the compote aside to cool down.

Now let's move on to the caramelized apples!

Peel and cut your remaining 3 apples into small 0.5 cm cubes. Set aside for a moment.

In a saucepan (I used the same one as for my compote), pour 30gr of butter cut into pieces and melt it.

Once the butter has melted, add your diced apples, stir gently, then add 30gr of brown sugar.

Stir again and let the apples caramelize, stirring frequently.

Reduce the temperature to medium heat and stir well so that the apples caramelize all over.

Little by little the apples will become a little translucent and the juice will evaporate.

Your apples are ready when they are nice and tender and there is no more juice at the bottom of the pan.

Then mix your apple compote with your caramelized apples.

The mixture should really be quite thick. If you still see liquid, put everything back in a saucepan and let the juice evaporate for a few more minutes.

Set the mixture aside in the fridge while we take care of the puff pastry.

Get your puff pastry ready. So here I used about 550-600gr of homemade puff pastry.

Roll it out to 3 mm thickness using biscuit thickness guides and a large rolling pin.

Cut out 10 cm rounds. If you don't have a cutter that large, no worries! Use an 8 cm one and then roll it out a little more with the rolling pin. Or use a bowl of 10-12 cm in diameter. :o)

It looks very pretty if you use a fluted cutter! But it also works with a smooth edge.

Then run your rolling pin over the middle of the round to give an oval shape to your pastry.

Then brush the edge of the puff pastry with a little water. Just a tiny bit! We don't want to drown our puff pastry!

Place a small tablespoon of apples onto the puff pastry, then close the turnover by pressing the edges together.

If you put too much water on the edge, it won't stick...

Be careful not to put too much filling! You won't be able to close your turnovers if you overfill them. And they will open up during baking...

So be generous but not too much all the same. :o)

Place your turnovers on a perforated baking tray lined with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix one egg yolk with 10gr of heavy cream. Then brush the top of the turnovers with a pastry brush.

Be careful not to brush the edges of the turnovers so that the puff pastry can rise properly.

Refrigerate the turnovers for 30 minutes (and keep the egg/cream mixture in the fridge too).

Once the 30 minutes are up, preheat your oven to 190°C, fan-assisted.

Then brush your turnovers again with the egg/cream mixture, avoiding the sides.

Then draw pretty diagonal lines using a knife. Press firmly but not too hard, so as not to pierce the puff pastry.

Finally, make two small holes with a toothpick on the back of the turnovers.

This will prevent your turnovers from opening during baking.

Bake your turnovers in your preheated oven at 190°C, fan-assisted, for 10 minutes.

Then reduce the temperature to 180°C for an additional 20 minutes.

During baking, we will prepare a sugar syrup to make our turnovers shine once baked.

So pour 25gr of sugar and 25gr of water and heat the mixture to 105°C. Once the temperature is reached, remove from the heat and set aside in a glass bowl.

Out of the oven, brush your apple turnovers with the sugar syrup using a pastry brush.

This way, they will shine beautifully! :o)

And there you have it! Delicious and crispy apple turnovers!

Enjoy! :o) And think of your colleagues if you have too many!

Enjoy them warm, lukewarm or cold! :o)

Happy Sunday, foodies!

Karin

P.S.: All the equipment used can be found at the bottom of the recipe.