Apple Dumplings. Nothing speaks more about Home Sweet Home I think than a warm apple dumpling. Fresh from the oven and served warm with cream or ice cream, you really can't get a tastier dessert! I would take one of these over a piece of apple pie or a candy apple any day of the week. They are actually very quick and simple to make as well, requiring very little effort.
We used to get an apple in our lunch every single day when I was growing up. My mother subscribed to the old adiom that "An apple a day, keeps the Doctor away." It was considered a very healthy snack or treat.
I confess I am not overly fond of raw or fresh apples. Its a texture thing with my teeth. Eating the skin is just like scraping my fingernails over a chalk board. If you are very young you probably won't understand what I mean by that. You probably have never seen a chalk board.
Fingers scratching across a chalk board has to be about the worst sound on earth. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.
Not all apples are create equally. There are apples which are really good for eating out of hand, or dessert apples as they are called over here. Some good examples of those would be Fuji Gala or Honey Crisp. You can also eat Granny Smith's if you are fond of apples that are a bit more on the tart side.
A short crust type of pastry works best in this recipe. I favour my Butter Lard pastry. It makes just the right amount for this recipe and works very well for either savoury or sweet bakes.
It has a really beautiful texture.
Butter Lard Pastry
PrintYield: makes 2 9-inch crustsAuthor: Marie RaynerThis is a beautiful pastry. Flaky just right. You can add a touch of sugar to it if you are making a fruit pie.Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup butter (76g)
- 1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
- 5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
Instructions
- Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas. Add ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry comes together. Form in to a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each into a round flat disc. Warp in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
notes:
If using for a sweet pie, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar.
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You can also use a good quality ready-made pastry. I have my favourites. You need enough for a two crust pie to make six dumplings.
As far as the apples go, you only need to peel and core them. I have an apple corer which does a fabulous job. I don't know how I ever got along without one!
The peeled and cored apples get rolled in some lemon juice before rolling the in cinnamon sugar. The lemon juice helps to preserve their color and the cinnamon sugar gives them flavour!
They also get stuffed with a mixture of brown sugar and butter for even more flavor.
You place the coated apples onto squares of the pastry and stuff them with the brown sugar and butter. I sometimes will cut the squares out with a fluted cutter for added interest. It makes them prettier.
The four corners are them brought up to cover the apples in their entirety. Make sure you crimp the edges tightly together to seal them completely.
I like to decorate them a bit by making some leaves with some pastry if I can and I stick a clove in the center for a stem. It makes for a really pretty look. You don't have to do that, but it does really dress them up.
Once you have them ready just pop them into a baking dish and bake them for half an hour. While they are baking you make a syrup. It is a very simple syrup of water, butter, sugar, vanilla and some spices.
Bake these for your family and be prepared for plenty of applause! These really are the best!
Apple Dumplings
Yield: 6Author: Marie Raynerprep time: 15 Mincook time: 1 Hourtotal time: 1 H & 15 MI don't know anyone who doesn't love these. They're fantastic, and they're not as difficult to make as one would suppose.Ingredients
For the dumplings:- 6 medium sized firm cooking apples (I used granny smiths)
- 2 TBS lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- soft light brown sugar
- 2 TBS butter
- enough pastry for 2 10-inch pie crusts
- 2 cups (480ml) of water
- 3/4 cup (175g) granulated sugar
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- Pouring cream
- vanilla ice cream
- custard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a 9 by 13 by 2 inch baking pan, which you have lightly buttered.
- Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle measuring 14 by 21 inches. Cut into six even squares. Whisk together the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Peel and core the apples, leaving whole. Put the lemon juice in a bowl and roll the apples in this, then roll them into the bowl of cinnamon sugar to coat. Place each apple into the center of one pastry square. Fill the cavity of each apple with 2 TBS soft light brown sugar and 1 tsp of butter. Pull up the sides of the pastry squares to cover each apple, crimping the edges tightly shut. Place into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 1/2 hour.
- In the meantime, combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to the boil and cook rapidly for 1 minute. After the dumplings have been cooking for 1/2 hour, pour the sauce over top and then return to the oven, continuing to bake for a further 1/2 hour, basting occasionally.
- Serve warm with your choice of cream, ice cream, or custard. Delicious.
notes:
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These delicious dumplings have to be just about my most favorite thing on earth. If it's in pastry then I am all over it. I always find one of these very difficult to resist. What is your impossible to resist dessert?
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