Baked Apple Roses

Baked Apple Roses are delicate, beautiful, delicious, and the perfect sweet treat for breakfast, afternoon tea, or dessert. 

What’s not to love?

Golden puff pastry, sweet strawberry preserves, and juicy red apples. What’s not to love? Many people think that these delicate and beautiful pastries look difficult to make and they are afraid to try. I must admit, I was one of those people.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that these pastries are much easier to make than they look. They are also incredibly fun to get creative with. The flavor combinations that you can create are endless!

Find your favorite flavor of Baked Apple Roses.

Strawberry preserves are my favorite combination with the apples when I make Baked Apple Roses. The sweetness of the preserves combined with the tartness of the apples is a flavor combination I can’t resist. My husband, however, loves cinnamon and sugar. Think, mouthwatering apple pie in the shape of a gorgeous rose… What’s not to love? Besides strawberry preserves and cinnamon sugar, you can also use apricot preserves or apple butter. Enjoy getting creative in the kitchen!

Helpful hints.

There are a few tips that will help the Baked Apple Roses come out perfectly.

• Be sure the puff pastry dough is rolled out to 1/8 of an inch thin or thinner. If the dough is too thick, the center of the rose will not cook which will leave the rose mushy in the middle. 
• Try to cut the apple slices as thin as possible. A mandolin, cheese slicer, or very sharp knife work well for this. It’s important the apple slices are thin so that when they are microwaved in the water and lemon juice they can soften enough to bend without snapping. When the pastry is rolled-up to form the roses, the apple slices (which become the petals) should not snap and break. 
• While baking, if the apple rose petals begin to get too brown, cover them with aluminum foil to stop the browning process.
• Bake the apple roses in buttered muffin cups or make individual servings and bake them in buttered ramekins. 

Warm from the oven.

Serve Baked Apple Roses warm out of the oven sprinkled with some powdered sugar. If they are being served for dessert, a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream with a mint spring to garnish are a perfect pairing and make for a beautiful plate. 

Yield: 6-8 Roses

Baked Apple Roses

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Golden puff pastry, sweet strawberry preserves, and juicy red apples make these gorgeous and delicious Baked Apple Roses the perfect breakfast pastry, afternoon tea treat, or mouthwatering dessert. They're almost too beautiful to eat... Almost!

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Ingredients

• 1 package of puff pastry dough
• Strawberry preserves
• 4-5 red apples (I use Fuji)
• Juice of one lemon
• Water
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (optional)
• 1/3 cup butter, melted (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Butter muffin cups or ramekins.
2. Fill a microwavable bowl halfway with warm water and squeeze the juice of a lemon into the water.
3. Using a mandoline, cheese slicer, or very sharp knife slice the apples paper thin and place them in the warm water and lemon juice. Microwave the apples for about 1 minute.
4. Roll out puff pastry sheet to less than 1/8-inch thickness. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter cut 3-4 inch wide strips.
5. Spread strawberry preserves lightly over a dough strip. (If making cinnamon sugar apple roses, brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar.)
6. Place apple slices along 1 long edge of the dough, about 1/4 inch beyond the edge of the dough, overlapping slices slightly fold the bottom half of the dough over the apple slices to form a long “folder” of dough with rounded edges of apple slices exposed. Pinch together each end of the dough. (If making cinnamon sugar apple roses, brush the bottom "folder" with melted butter and sprinkle with more cinnamon and sugar before rolling.)
7. Starting from one end, roll the dough loosely to form a rose-shaped pastry. Seal roll with the end of the dough strip.
8. Transfer the roses to prepared muffin cups. Place on the middle of the rack of the preheated oven.
9. Bake until well browned, about 40 to 45 minutes. Allow baked apple roses to cool 5 to 10 minutes before removing them from the pan. Transfer roses to rack to continue to cool. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

Keep an eye on the roses while they bake. If the "petals" start to get too brown while baking, place aluminum foil over the roses and continue to bake.