Puff Pastry Apple & Lemon Rosettes

Ingredients

This recipe is deceptively simple and people absolutely go crazy for these little apple and lemon rose tarts. The apples and lemons sort of bridge the gap between fall and winter and this recipe makes a fantastic addition to a holiday breakfast, brunch or dessert table. Because they’re less sweet than other tarts, I love to serve them with a dusting of powdered sugar, a drizzle of salted caramel and some vanilla ice cream. I used pink Mountain Rose apples for this because the color is hard to resist, but I also love them with either Honeycrisp or Red Delicious as well. This recipe makes 6 large roses.

2 large red apples, cored and sliced as thin as you can get them
squeeze of lemon juice (about a tablespoon)
flour, for dusting
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
4 tablespoons lemon curd
confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
caramel sauce
vanilla ice cream

The Prep

Lightly butter/spray a muffin tin and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Place the apple slices in a microwave-safe bowl with a squeeze of lemon juice and cover with water. Microwave until the slices are slightly softened, about three minutes. This allows you to roll them.
Lightly flour your workspace and roll out the puff pastry as thin as you can, maintaining the rectangular shape. Working longways, trim the pastry into 6 evenly-sized strips.
Brush the lemon curd onto one side of each strip.
Place the apple slices on the strips, starting about halfway down and overlapping each slice. You want the rounded edge of each slice to be facing out, as opposed to the pointy edges. Starting at the apple end of each strip and gently working your way to the other side, carefully roll up each strip, but not too tight. Place them into the prepared tins when you’re done.
Bake until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through, about 40 minutes. If your apples begin to brown too quickly, you can cover them loosely with foil to prevent them from cooking too fast.
Remove the tarts from their tins, cool slightly and dust with confectioner’s sugar (if desired) and a drizzle of caramel sauce.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.