We are rapidly approaching Valentine’s Day! Our team of scientists stumbled upon a stunning and delicious treat using Chef John’s recipe and instructions to make family, friends or date gawk in amazement within the first few seconds of tasting it.   These treats are baked apple roses lined with cinnamon and sugar.  There are many different recipes out there, and our team decided that this was a simplistic one.  

The ingredients needed for apple roses are the following.

Most recipes start with preparing the apple, but to avoid the apples from browning quickly, we prepared the puff pastry first. Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Then place your sheet of puff pastry on a cutting board and begin rolling it out lengthwise. Remember, while rolling it out, you are trying to go for length rather than width. This will allow you to have more layers to your flower, making it look much prettier. Once you have rolled out the puff pastry to around 15 inches, grab a knife or pizza cutter, and split the dough in half lengthwise. Next, we will coat these in cinnamon, sugar, and butter. First, melt your ¼ cup of butter.   Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Grab a spoon or a pastry brush and coat the top of the puff pastry strips with a layer of butter. Afterward, gently sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon sugar mix onto the dough.

Next, we will get started with the apple slices. Move the pastry strips out of the way and place your apple on the cutting board. Start by cutting the apple in half, then cut each of those halves into very thin slices. Remember, the thinner the slices, the easier the flower will be to fold.  We used a piping tip to cut the core and remove any seeds from the apple slices.  Scatter all your apple slices on a plate and stick them into the microwave for around one minute or until soft.

It is time to start making the flower! Start by taking your apple slices out of the microwave and laying your puff pastry sheets on the cutting board. Crack your egg into a bowl and add water and stir it around gently to make your egg wash.  Place around ten apple slices along the top half of the puff pastry sheet, leaving about half an inch of the red apple poking out from above. The edges of the apples can overlap but refrain from placing two slices on top of each other. Next, fold the bottom half of the puff pastry sheet (where the dough is still exposed) over the apples along the top half. With your pastry brush, coat the folded half in egg wash and some cinnamon and sugar.

Now it is time to roll the pastry. Starting from one end, slowly roll the puff pastry strip into a ball. Remember to keep the roll as centered as possible. If an apple starts poking out from under the dough, just keep rolling. Place these beautiful flowers in ramekins or muffin pans and bake for about 45 minutes. Once the time is up, take it out of the oven, and enjoy a wonderful Valentine’s Day!