Baked apple roses

December is a joyful month as everyone prepares for Christmas. Here’s a treat for you that not only tastes great, but looks fabulous too! These are wonderful baked apple roses that are very easy to prepare. We used the Borner Multi Peeler Set of 3 for this .

Ingredients:
1 large red apple, cored and very thinly sliced
¼ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
¼ cup melted butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons of water
1 teaspoon powdered sugar (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Grease 2 small molds with butter and sprinkle with white sugar.
Place the apple slices on a plate, overlapping slightly if necessary. Heat in the microwave on high for about 45 seconds until the slices have softened a little. Cover the plate with cling film and a kitchen towel.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Roll out the sheet of puff pastry to a thickness of less than 1/8 inch. Using a pizza cutter, cut out two 3 by 12 inch rectangles. Save the remaining pieces for another use.
Brush the dough with melted butter and top with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar. Place the apple slices along one long edge of the dough, about 1/4 inch beyond the edge of the dough, slightly overlapping the slices. Fold the bottom half of the dough over the apple slices, creating a long “pleat sheet” that exposes the rounded edges of the apple slices.

Whisk egg and water in a bowl. Brush the surface of the dough with the egg mixture. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar if you like.
Starting at one end, do not roll up the dough too tightly, creating a rose-shaped pastry. Close the roll with the end of the strip of dough.
Place the roses in the prepared molds. Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon sugar.

Place the molds directly on the middle shelf of the preheated oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes until well browned. Remove the ramekins with tongs and place on a baking sheet to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Take the apple roses out of the molds and let them cool on a wire rack. Before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar.