Apple Season
The air is cooler now, and leaves are beginning to turn bright red, orange and yellow. It’s my favorite time of year. For many people, this is apple-picking season. In a way, it is for me, too – I pick them up from the farmers market.
The Raleigh farmers market is a great place to find new varieties to try, and the farmers are very helpful and ready to answer any questions you may have. Sadly, because of COVID, we can no longer sample all the varieties, but it’s still a wonderful afternoon outing.
We love apples and eat them raw, but it is also so satisfying to cook with them. I love to make applesauce each Fall, and you can find that recipe here. But baked goods with apples in them are also glorious.
This week, I thought I would make apple turnovers. You may wonder what the difference is between a turnover and a hand pie. Well, a turnover is exactly that – dough, usually puff pastry, folded over or turned over itself with a filling.
A hand pie usually uses a pie crust, and almost always a half moon shape whereas turnovers are often triangles. Mine happen to be rectangles simply because I find the sheets of frozen puff pastry cut more evenly into rectangles, rather than squares – my own version of geometry problems.
Yes, you COULD take the time to make puff pastry by hand a la the Great British Bake Off, but why in the world would you when frozen puff pastry is delicious and a million times easier? Since having discovered this when making a Peach Bourbon Tart last year, I try to keep some in my freezer all the time.
The most labor intensive part of making apple turnovers is prepping the apples. In the past, while making applesauce and the like, I would borrow my mom’s apple peeler/corer/slicer countertop contraption. This is definitely better than doing it all by hand.
Since I purchased a fabulous KitchenAid mixer for Christmas last year, I splurged and ordered the attachment that can peel, core, slice and spiralize fruits and veggies. I have to admit, said attachment sat in its box for almost a year before I was brave enough to try it.
GAME CHANGER!!
Once I figured it out, using my mixer to power the peeler/slicer/corer was much faster and cleaner that the countertop version. I also learned the secret of “squaring” off the apples by slicing the tops and bottoms off to make a flat surface to start the process. The peels come off in one impressively long ribbon and the cores are removed beautifully without any additional trimming needed. The process is faster and there is way less apple juice flung around this way.
Once the apples are peeled and sliced, you can prepare the filling for the turnovers. Place the apples into a large sauce pan and add some butter, brown sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and my secret ingredient – Evan Williams Honey Bourbon. Cook that down until the apples are just beginning to soften and a nice sauce has begun to thicken. I like my apples with a bit of crunch still in them, but you can cook them softer if you prefer.
Of course, you can leave out the bourbon, but it really enhances the flavor of the apples and makes them sing. Any alcohol is cooked off, and it makes an amazing harmony of flavors.
After the filling is made, allow it to cool a bit before filling the turnovers. While it cools, you can cut your pastry. Each sheet should yield 6 turnovers. Lay them out and place the filling on the bottom half of the dough.
The temptation is to overfill the turnovers, at least for me, that is. But they will retain their shape and cook better with just about 2 tsps worth of filling, and try not to allow too much sauce in each pastry or it will just run out or make the turnovers soggy.
Fold over the top of the dough for each turnover and press the edges together. Use a fork to crimp around the edges. Brush each one with egg wash and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mix. Use a fork to pierce the top of each turnover in the shape of an X. This will allow steam to escape without blowing up the pastries.
You will have filling left over, but don’t be sad about that! It is amazing as an ice cream topping or would be great on pancakes.
Bake the turnovers for about 15 minutes, or until the dough has puffed up and the tops are golden brown. They are delicious served warm with a hot cup of coffee or tea. This version makes a small turnover, so go ahead, eat two.
