Tuesday, September 15, 2009

TWD: Flaky Apple Turnovers


This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie treat is Flaky Apple Turnovers. My boyfriend is particularly fond of desserts in the apple and flaky category (it’s really a good thing we don’t live close to a good bakery, I think he’d get a pastry every single day), so I was definitely looking forward to making these. I did have my reservations, though: back in April when the Sweet Melissa group made apple turnovers, a recipe that called for pre-packaged puff pastry ended up taking me almost two days to complete and some minor frustrations due to various mistakes I made and I did not want a repeat of that. I think I subconsciously began the process on Friday evening in anticipation of disaster, so I’d have time to start over if the recipe didn’t work the first time. This is what my dough looked like after chilling overnight: a big crumbly mess!



I was afraid of “overworking” the dough, so I may not have mixed it enough before it went in for its first chilling period, figuring it would be cohesive after resting for a night in the refrigerator. Instead of tossing it, I hydrated it by adding a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (a good dough tenderizer), mixed it back up, and refrigerated it again. When I took it out ten hours later, it pleasantly rolled and folded for me – I guess it’s pretty forgiving dough. In addition to apples, I filled a few with some jumbleberry jam I made the previous weekend; the turnovers seemed like such a fall recipe, but technically we still have a tiny bit of summer left, so it seemed appropriate. I thought it would be fun to make some minis with a three-inch biscuit cutter; unfortunately, though cute, I could hardly get any filling in them at all. I also had a little problem sealing the turnovers and it didn’t occur to me until filling my second-to-last turnover that putting a little egg wash on the inside would help seal them up. Oh, well – next time. And I would definitely make these again (though I didn’t do it this time, I love that you can freeze them and bake them up when a pastry craving strikes) since any problems were easily remedied and we thought they were fantastic little treats. The pastry was nice and flaky and I liked the simplicity of the apple filling.



This recipe rated an 8.5 for Deliciousness and a 4 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 2.12. Many thanks to Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen for selecting this wonderful dessert (or breakfast or snack). You can find the recipe HERE on Julies’s site and see what the other bakers thought via the TWD blogroll.

21 comments:

Michele said...

Wow! Your turnovers are stunning.

Hindy said...

Talk about flaky goodness - those are beautiful! I agree, one of the nicest things about this recipe is its freezability.

Jessica said...

I love the jam filled turnovers, what a great idea. And, I agree with you, I love the idea of having a stash of these in the freezer for unexpected pastry cravings.

Karin said...

They look wonderful! I thought I was the only one to use vinegar in pie dough ;)

betty geek said...

Wow, your turnovers turned out AWESOME!

I love how they look, very flaky and golden brown. Um, can I have one?

Unknown said...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one with dough issues :) Though in the end, it looks like you were much more successful with the dough as yours look flaky and perfect while mine were messy and sad. I love desserts that fall into the apple and flaky categories too so it was a bummer that these sort of failed.

Megan said...

Hmmm - I've seen several pie crust recipes that call for cider vinegar. I guess it works, because those turnovers look pretty flaky to me!

spike. said...

looks like all turned out well!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Margot, your turnovers look great. I had exactly the same issues with the dough and needed a fair bit of water to make it workable.

Teanna DiMicco said...

Awesome save with the dough! And I love the jumbleberry filling idea! Gorgeous job!

Susan said...

I think I may try some jam in my next batch. Yours look delicious.

Anonymous said...

OMG, your flaky apple turnovers look fantastic! Your pie dough came out soo puffy and flaky! I guess having a crumbly mixture is better than having a smooth one - I'll have to remember that.
What is jumbleberry? I've never heard of it but it sounds fun! =)

TeaLady said...

Like your turnover tower. They look great.

margot said...

@ lasinthe kitchen: jumbleberry jam is mixed berries, a fun name and yummy way to use up berries before they go bad.

Amber Marie said...

These look great and very flaky! Mine became a little doughy after the first day. I definitely will try egg wash to seal them next time too!

Jacque said...

That's about what my first ever pie/pastry dough looked like. All of the directions made me so paranoid about overmixing, and then I went too far the other way.

I'm glad you stuck with it, though. I'd never know to look at your turnovers that you had any problems. They look perfect!

Pamela said...

Whoa...I can see the flakiness from here!! Great job and I'm glad that the dough turned out okay for you.

Anonymous said...

i used a 4 inch plastic cup to cut my dough *giggles* so i had the same 'barely able to fill' problem.

i should have frozen some of these... *snaps*

Leslie said...

Beautiful turnovers! I haven't made these yet but the idea of sticking them in the freezer for later is very appealing.

Melissa said...

Awwww, they look so pretty! I love the edges. I'm not a meticulous enough baker for finishing desserts up pretty, although generally my stuff tastes pretty good. ;)

I may try these again next time with just a cinnamon sugar filling (and maybe some chocolate chips, to boot).

Jules Someone said...

Yeah! Glad the dough fixes worked for you. Yum. Thanks for baking with me!