Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!! I hope everyone relaxed, ate, and slept as much as I have. I was going to wait a bit before posting this recipe but I’m too excited to hold back on this one!
So this year my sister & brother-in-law decided they wanted to host Thanksgiving and asked if I could bake dessert. I came up with a list of desserts that I’ve been wanting to try out for a long time- with this Apple Rose Pie on the bottom of the list. Which of course means that this is the one my sister voted for haha. Honestly, I was really excited to try it- but equally intimidated (and also super nervous to try a new recipe for such a big dinner). But, as I was making it, I realized that this is probably one of the easiest recipes I’ve done. And I’m all about recipes which are super delicious yet super easy (#ahem #darkchocolatebark)- they always look impressive and people love them, and they take minimal effort on my part. It’s a win-win.
Since my parents don’t particularly love super sweet desserts & we were already super full from the amazing Thanksgiving dinner, this was a perfect choice. It’s a more delicate version of apple pie basically. (Personally, I would recommend to serve this hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to help satisfy any super sweet tooth). I decided to try my hand at making crust from scratch- and I’m so glad I did. My family definitely noticed the difference! My brother-in-law commented on how he usually leaves crust behind because there’s too much sugar in the crust, but he absolutely loved this one! It helped keep the focus on the apple filling but was still flaky and perfectly browned. I was even able to save a little pinch of the dough and use leaf cookie cutters to make 2 cute Autumn leaves to top the dessert with! So yes- I will definitely be using this crust for future recipes. Then, the apple slices were tossed in a sugary, fall flavored mix and then nestled into a rose bud formation- a simple yet gorgeous recipe that’s sure to impress any guests. [If you’re still not convinced, let me just say that I shared a picture of the final product with my friend and his mom said-and I quote “that little fart! Tell her she’s a little miss show-off, making my desserts feel inferior!”, which is a hilarious (and yet super sweet) compliment from her!]
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, diced
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4+ tablespoons cold water
- 4 red apples
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, optional
- In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and cold butter. Process until it forms coarse crumbs.
- Add tablespoons of water one at a time, pulsing between additions. Eventually this should form a ball of dough.
- Place the ball of dough onto a baking mat or marble slab. With a piece of wax or parchment paper on top, roll the dough out to about 1/4" thickness. Add flour if the dough sticks to the slab or the rolling pin.
- Lift crust and place in pie plate, pressing it gently into the plate.
- Set in fridge until the filling is ready.
- Core and cut the apples in half. Slice the apples further into 1/8-inch slivers. (They should be thin enough to bend when soft but not thin enough to snap).
- Once sliced, place all the slices in a bowl. Add in the sugars, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss the slices to evenly coat them with the mixture.
- Set aside for 10 minutes to allow flavor to set in.
- Set a pan on low heat.
- Add apple slices and allow them to simmer until they are slightly warm and slightly softened.
- Transfer apples back to bowl and allow them to cool.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bring pie plate out and arrange slices into the pastry. Do this by starting from the outer edge and working inwards. Layer the slices to partially stand in front of each other to get a layered-rose effect.
- When you get towards the center of the pie, prepare a rose bud piece by tightly rolling one apple slice and wrapping other slices around the bud center, one at a time. Place into center of the pie.
- Set aside the remaining juice mixture for later.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Then, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for 40 minutes. Apples should be soft and crust should be evenly browned.
- Bring the pie out of the oven and allow it cool for 10 minutes.
- While the pie sets, brush the remaining juice over the apple slices.
- Once cooled down, sprinkle powdered sugar over pie.
- Enjoy as is, or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
