The Toddster has been a pretty good boy lately and so I decided to make him a special treat today. He especially loves apple pie. It's a real favourite with him . . .
I didn't have enough apples for a pie though . . . nor did I feel like faffing about with one. (I know . . .how lazy am I!!) I wanted to make him something that he would really enjoy, but I didn't want it to take a lot of effort on my part.
Not that he is not worth the effort. Aux contraire! I was just feeling particularly lazy!
I decided to make him some tasty Apple Turnovers. But not just any Apple Turnovers . . . Dutch Apple Turnovers, filled with tart apple and sweet sultana raisins.
Sweetened with white and brown sugar, and lightly spiced with cinnamon, freshy grated nutmeg, cardamom and a tiny bit of cloves. (Todd's mom always used cloves in her apple pies when he was growing up and he misses it if I don't add at least a little bit.)
Flavoured with vanilla, rum and lemon extracts and dotted with butter to make the whole filling rich and a teensie bit decadent.
And then folded into ready rolled short crust pastry. (That was the lazy part.) If I am going to use ready roll though, I do use the all butter one. No nasty trans fats . . . or at least I like to think there aren't!
Brushed with a bit of egg wash, and sprinkled with some cinnamon sugar . . . they are done after baking for about half an hour in a moderately hot oven. All scrummy and brown and smelling heavenly . . .
But that's not all . . . that's not all. I like to drizzle a tart lemon drizzle icing over top. Just to gild the lily you know. Oh so scrummy.
*Dutch Apple Turnovers*
Makes 4
I think it's the sultanas that make these Dutch. Doesn't matter, in any language they are fabulous! (Easy to make too!)
1 large Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored and chopped
a handful of sultana raisins
1 TBS golden caster sugar
1 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
1 TBS plain flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cardamon
pinch ground cloves
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp rum extract
1/8 tsp lemon extract
4 tsp butter
1 375g package of ready rolled all butter short crust pastry
To glaze:
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 TBS water
1 TBS granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Lightly spritz with cooking spray. Set aside.
Mix the chopped apple, raisins, sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, cloves, vanilla, run and lemon extracts in a bowl, stirring well together with a spoon.
Unroll the pastry and using a pastry cutter, cut into 4 equal sized squares. (You may have a bit leftover, but use your ingenuity and make some jam tarts or something with this. No need to waste it.) Place one fourth of the apple filling onto one half of each square, slightly off centre. Dot each with 1 tsp of butter, cut into bits. Wet the edges all around with some water. Fold half of the pastry over the filling to cover. Pinch and seal the edges all around. Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the beaten egg yolk. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the glaze and sprinkle evenly over top of the turnovers. Take a sharp knive and carefully make a few vent cuts in the top of each without cutting through all the way to the bottom crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes until cooked through, the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool to lukewarm before serving.
Note: If desired you can make a runny icing using about 1/2 cup of icing sugar and a bit of lemon juice to drizzle over top of the finished turnovers for a nice finish.
I bet you're wondering what I did with those two leftover bits of pastry that I couldn't use to make turnovers eh? Well . . . I was very, very naughty. I spread them with butter, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar, folded them in half, spread them with more butter and sprinkled them with more cinnamon sugar and folded them in half again. Then I sprinkled some final bits of scrummy cinnamon sugar over top and baked them right along with the turnovers. I also drizzled the baked bits with some of that lovely lemon drizzle icing.
Oh my goodness . . . these were some good. Sigh . . . I know, I am a very naughty girl. ☺ The only thing that could have made them any better is some cherry jam in the middle. Oh my, oh my . . . sigh . . .
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