I made these Apple Bombs — buttery pastry-wrapped whole apples, like individual apple pies — when friends came over, but you don’t have to wait for that. A brilliant cook friend gave me the recipe. They are the perfect holiday something. Trust me. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Apple Bombs
6 apples
2 1/2 c flour
pinch salt
2 sticks cold butter
cold water as needed.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or more)
1 teas. grated lemon zest
slightly beaten egg white
sugar for sprinkling
Peel and core apples, leaving a bit of the stem end in tact.
Process 1 1/2 sticks butter, flour and salt, sprinkle water to form dough. Wrap in plastic and set in fridge 1/2 hr.
Meanwhile, cream together rest of butter, sugar, cinnamon and zest. Spoon into apple cavities.
Set oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough into 12 x 18 rectangle. Place apples on top of rectangle, cut side up and equidistant from each other. Cut dough into six squares. Wet edges of each square with a little cold water, then pull each corner on top of the apple, enclosing apple. I like to shape the dough into little peaks.
Brush pastry with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until pastry brown and apples soft, about 30 min. Let rest 15 min.
A tip: Helps to let the dough warm a bit so you can stretch it over apples; try to cover apples with dough so that sugar mixture is held in; go heavy on the egg white and sugar – since the dough is not particularly sweet, the sugar on top is good.
Jean Zimmerman 