Baked stuffed apples in pastry dumplings
Baked stuffed apples in pastry dumplings is an old fashion way of baking apples. One of the great things about this apple dessert is stuffing it to suit the eater’s preference. Here I tried a few ways to give some ideas but really I can’t think of many sweet things that wouldn’t suit putting into the apple’s hole so long as they fit.
I have made it using both cooking and dessert apples and using puff and shortcrust pastry. If you want your apple to be cooked all the way through with fluffy texture then pick a cooking apple but it will be sharper. A dessert apple will be sweeter but the texture will still be fairly firm unless baked for longer at lower temperature.
My advice whichever pastry you use is to roll it out much thinner than you first think.
Have you seen on the web recipes for cookie dough stuffed with a rolo? Why not try it with an apple.
Stuffed with dulce de leche.
Honey is very good with a sour cooking apple, the sweetness contrasting against the sharpness of the apple really well. fill only halfway up the hole. Could also use golden syrup or maple syrup.
Stuffed with mincemeat.
Choose your apple, small to medium size, peel and core them.
Put them on top of pastry, cut pastry around the apple. Stuff core of apple with your filling.
Brush the edge of the pastry with milk 0r egg wash or water. Bring the pastry up around the fruit and press tightly.
Cut the top off to avoid thick pastry.
Re-pinch the end together well or the pastry will come apart during baking.
Add extra pastry to the bottom to prevent the hot filling oozing. Cut a small pastry disc using a little pastry cutter and stick it to the bottom of the dumpling.
This pastry disc acted as a steady foot for them holding steady in position and it also baked into a lovely crispy base.
With the surplus ends of pastry cut leaf shapes.
Using milk or egg wash or water stick leaves to the dumplings. And brush it over the dumplings.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Longer for dessert apples.
- 6-8 small to medium size apples (cooking apples for a fluffy texture)
- 500g pastry, puff or shortcrust (often shop bought pastry is dairy-free). To make your own shortcrust pastry see my post here
- Your chosen filling. Each apples takes 4 rolos, 1.5-2 teaspoons of mincemeat, half teaspoon of honey or teaspoon of caramel
- milk or eggwash (egg beaten with spoonful water) to brush over pastry
- Peel and core the apples. Roll out pastry thinly, place apple on top and cut around apple.
- Stuff apple with chosen filling.
- Brush the edges of the pastry with milk or eggwash or water. Bring pastry up and around the apple and pinch it together, if there’s too much pastry at the top cut some off and re-pinch again tightly.
- Cut a little round disc of pastry to stick to the bottom of the dumpling, it will stop the filling coming through.
- With the remainder of the pastry bits cut out leaf shapes and draw a leaf pattern on them using end of small knife.
- Stick the leaves with either eggwash/milk/water. Brush the dumplings with eggwash or milk. Bake in pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with cold cream or ice-cream.