Barefoot Bloggers: Apple Turnovers

This week's "bonus" Barefoot Bloggers recipe for Apple Turnovers was selected by one of my favorite food bloggers, Anne Strawberry. I had no doubt that Anne would choose a great one for us, and oh my, did she ever!

The recipe says to start with frozen puff pastry. I was not familiar with "frozen puff pastry," because I usually make my own puff pastry from scratch [insert canned laugh track here]. I could not find frozen puff pastry at Publix. I tried to flit back and forth between the refrigerated dough section and the frozen dough section to search for it, but it is hard to "flit" when you are pushing around one of these behemoths:
I finally decided that I must have been confused, and maybe what I really needed was frozen pie crusts, like the kind I used to buy before becoming an online baker and discovering Dorie Greenspan's superb pie crust recipe.

Anyway, I finally gave up on the frozen puff pastry and returned home with frozen pie crusts, but then did what I should have done to begin with and sat down at the computer and googled "frozen puff pastry," and voila! I found exactly what I needed, with an accompanying picture, no less. Going to the grocery store more than once a day makes me cranky, and you know what they say: "if mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy," so I sent David back to Publix, armed with a photograph of Pepperidge Farm Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets. My favorite hunter/gatherer returned shortly with the aforementioned frozen puff pastry sheets.

And that was the hardest part of making these turnovers.

Other than that, it was just a matter of mixing together a few cut up apples, some orange juice and grated orange rind, dried cherries, and a few spices. I left out the nutmeg, because I never regret the nutmeg I don't use, but I sometimes regret the nutmeg I do use. Unroll the puff pastry, scoop in some of the fruit mixture, brush edges of pastry with egg, fold into triangle, and brush the top of the pastry with egg. Sprinkle the top with sugar (I added a little cinnamon too). And stick it in the oven. That's it. It would have taken me longer to find the Oreos behind all the cereal boxes in my pantry.

Ready to go into the oven:


The result is a superb dessert, special enough to serve to your fancy friends, yet homey enough (and easy enough) to make for your nearest and dearest on any old weeknight. I served this with vanilla ice cream, as that somehow seemed like a necessity. David and I both loved it (and David liked it cold the next day, too). The kids didn't like it, of course, but then their idea of a great dessert is gummy bears on chocolate ice cream, so I tend to discount what they think.

The finished product:


NOTE TO MY REAL LIFE FAMILY AND FRIENDS: The question is not "whether" I will serve you these apple turnovers, it is: will I serve them so often that you start saying "No, wait, let me guess! Apple turnovers for dessert?" as soon as you arrive on our doorstep? I hope you don't get sick of them, but I doubt you will. Thank you, Anne, for picking a dessert that I will make over and over (and over) again!

APPLE TURNOVERS

1 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)
3 tablespoons dried cherries
3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch kosher salt
1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.