Apple Napoleons


I can’t believe it is November already. Here in Arizona the seasons can change from one day to another. One day it’s in the nineties and the air conditioner is on; the next it’s cold and the heater is on. This pretty much happens every year. During our morning walk I wore a jacket for the first time and my walking buddy wore gloves. Oh yes, change is finally happening in the Southwest.

Yesterday I made apple napoleons, which was supposed to be a quick and easy recipe. I started out by burning the first batch of puff pastry to smithereens. Bellows of smoke was rolling out of the oven and the little delicate squares were charred beyond recognition. The recipe I was following was from Martha Stewart’s Living 2003 magazine. The directions specifically stated to bake the puff pastry in between two baking sheets at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Well we all know how that turned out. So I started over again, this time baking the puff pastry approx. 15 minutes, which resulted in beautifully baked pastry. I’m not sure why the cooking times differed so greatly maybe it was the puff pastry I used.


Next the apples were cooked down with the remaining cinnamon and sugar until a little caramelizing occurred. I served the Napoleons with two layers of pastry with each layer stuffed with ice cream and apples. If you love cooked apples and all the flavors associated with them I hope you have a chance to make these flaky apple napoleons. Fall is here! Carpe diem!

This recipe has been slightly adapted from Martha Stewart's Living Magazine.

Ingredients:

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons sugar
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
All-purposed flour for work surface
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/3 inch slices
Whip cream, gelato or ice cream

To prepare:

In a small bowl combine cinnamon and sugar, (will be divided) set aside.

Set puff pastry out to defrost, when defrosted unroll and on a lightly floured surface roll out to 1/8 inch. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of cinnamon mixture then cut into 3 x 4 inch squares, 8 total. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with more parchment paper and another baking sheet. Chill in freezer until firm about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake pastry in oven with both baking sheets right out of the freezer approx. 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat; when foam resides add apples and cook; stirring occasionally until golden brown about 7 to 10 minutes. Add remaining cinnamon mixture. Cook until apples are tender. I cooked mine a little longer because I wanted them to be caramelized, watch carefully if you decide to do this as it happens very quickly. Set aside, let cool completely.

To assemble; top the pastry with ice cream then add a layer of apples, add another layer of puff pastry, ice cream and then apples. Enjoy with a hot cup of spiced tea or coffee.

Serves 4.

Comments

  1. Nicely elaborate recipe..my daughter vaccation will be started from this week..try to make...

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  2. Oh, these apple napoleons look so delicious, Cheri! And our weather is very sporadic here in CA -- I don't know how to dress from one day to the next lately!

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    1. Thanks Marcie, yes, sounds like you guys have had some crazy weather.

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  3. Oh, these apple napoleons look so delicious, Cheri! And our weather is very sporadic here in CA -- I don't know how to dress from one day to the next lately!

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  4. I love napoleons, and these apple one look so beautiful! Love how easy and delicious they are. Perfect for anytime.

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    1. Thanks Anu, I had fun baking these even with the little "problem".

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  5. I know I will love these flaky apple napoleons ! So yummy !

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  6. I know, where has November come from?
    I am enjoying all of the apple pastries at the moment. So delicious!

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  7. I can't believe it's already November either! This is a lovely fall dessert.

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    1. Thanks Amy, loving everything pumpkin and apple right now.

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  8. that looks great! and i don't know where the time zips off to...

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  9. These looks absolutely amazing. Napoleons are such a great treat!

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  10. These look amazing! Perfect for the start of Autumn.

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  11. Who wouldn't love flaky treats? These apple napoleons look scrumptious!

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  12. I'm loving November! I drive to work with the sunroof open, it's just gorgeous out right now in AZ.

    These look delicious. I love that you shared the failure (so that we may learn) and the success as well.

    Yum!

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  13. Usually Martha does pretty good recipes, though I have had a few that don't work. Luckily this turned out in the end, because it looks and I'm sure tastes fabulous!

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    1. Thanks Abbe, thats what I thought too, well at least I had another puff pastry.

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  14. This sounds wonderful! Apple desserts are my favorite of all time and I think puff pastry is quite magical!

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    1. Hi Scott, I agree, you can't go wrong with a good puff pastry.

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  15. Cheri:

    These look amazing. You were kind to let us know about the smoked filled disaster the first time around....Hmmm. I've never heard of baking puff pastry between 2 cookie sheets before. Did you do that the second time, as well? Or cook them on one sheet for a shorter time? Anyway: they look delicious. I remember you said you don't bake much, but you've been baking some awesome treats recently. Thank you! D

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    1. Hi Dena, no I put the second batch between the 2 baking sheets to. Baking is such a science I think it depends on the puff pastry you use. We loved the second end result.

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  16. J'adore l'autumn! Especially in places (like Seattle - which I just visited) where trees transform their leaves into spectacular hues. I live in CA so very much relate to the 90 degrees one-day and colder (70 degree weather ) the next. Regardless of the climate, your Apple Napoleons are perfect. Ps My hunch is it's not your puff pastry but Ms. Stewart's recipe directions ;)

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    1. Thanks Kim for giving me so much credit but even though I am "a little older" it could very well be my mistake or the puff pastry I used.

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  17. The seasons have changed so quickly here too! When I went on holidays it was still cool down here, but since I've been home it's like instant summer! Not that I'm complaining :)
    These apple napoleans look like the perfect dessert! Just add a scoop of ice cream and I think I could eat the whole batch by myself!

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    1. Thanks Amy, I'm loving everything apple and pumpkin right now,

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  18. I've never heard of this technique of baking puff pastry. I'm guessing it turns out deliciously crispy. And I love anything with apples. Nice and easy treat for when the sun disappears. It's very mild here, which is unusual, but temps drop by nightfall.

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    1. Hi Johnny, I'm on a big apple kick this year too, take care!

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  19. Such a wonderful dessert, love the layering of the baked pastry with the apples.

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  20. Cinnamon Nd apple do magic e..love this quick dessrt..yum

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    1. Hi Vidya, I agree cinnamon and apples are perfect together.

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  21. What a great way to make a dessert - sorry about the burnt pasty - looks like you recovered well and enjoyed a great treat! We just came in from an evening walk - it is cool tonight but we are supposed to have record high temps tomorrow - crazy weather!

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  22. I think the recipe was never actually tested Cheri! We are having winter days interspersed with summer wind at the moment :)

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  23. This sounds like a tasty recipe. I'm guessing Martha has you chilling the puff pastry so it doesn't rise too much However if you use a fork to poke holes in the pastry prior to cooking and after cutting into the shaped desired it shouldn't rise much. Try that next time and see how that works. I demo'd something similar with Valentine shaped puff pastry on my YouTube channel. Check it out. It's the same premise. Nice recipe and perfect for fall.

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    1. Thanks for the tips Vicki, I will check out your utube video.

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  24. Frozen puff pastry is such good stuff, isn't it? And this Napoleon really shows it to advantage -- and the apples, too. Lovely dessert. Thanks.

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  25. I love sweets with apples , they add such a lovely flavor.
    This is a must try.

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  26. What an exquisite dessert! I am a huge fan of apple/cinnamon sweets! Sorry for the bad instructions---but glad you got these to work!

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  27. These look so good. I love apple deserts.
    Amalia
    xo

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  28. Your napoleons look great. I've heard about baking puff pastry between two sheets to keep it from rising and so it would become very crisp. Thank goodness you had enough pastry to redo the recipe.

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    1. Hi Karen, yes i am so glad I had another pastry sheet, sometimes when I feel like baking it's better to bake then.

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  29. Sounds like a yummy dessert. I love puff pastry with the apples and cinnamon. Perfect for fall.

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  30. What a fantastic dessert. I do love apples and puff pastry. The weather has been all over the place here too - you wake up never knowing what season you're dressing for xx

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  31. Isn't it crazy how the seasons and months fly by? I was just thinking that this morning, I cannot believe its November! These apple napoleons sound amazing, great use for the season produce of apple!

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  32. Ive never had napoleons but these look great! Your weather sounds a lot like ours over here in England!

    theglowwithin.com

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  33. Oooh ... a perfect dessert, Cheri!
    I always imagine Arizona to be hot or warm all the time and can't imagine it being cold at all. Here in the UK it's not too cold yet, but very dull, rainy and windy. Yuck. Definitely time to get out the lovely desserts!

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    1. Hi Helen, oh the desert gets pretty cold sometimes, a dry cold.....

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  34. Apples in the fall are the very best and these look so delicious, Cheri. I have had some disasters with Martha's recipes too and when I wrote to them to tell them of their mistake, they were quite indignant, lol.
    One recipe told me to add SIX cups of broth to a stuffing mix. Ummm...I don't think so, lol.
    The weather has been gorgeous here for November. We were in short sleeves the other day! Today it will start to change but that's to be expected. Now comes the layers and layers of clothing.
    Great recipe :)

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    1. Hi Robyn, that is very interesting, I've heard the same from a few others.

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  35. I learned early that Martha's recipes are not always reliable. Sad, but true. Glad to see from Robyn that I am not the only one. :) However, you redeemed the recipe and made it wonderful! I am making a puff pastry dessert tomorrow and will have leftovers... And I have apples. Yep, you guessed it, scrappy napoleons here I come!

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  36. Dear Cheri, apple napoleons sound like quite the treat - I would love to be served one for dessert - in my humble opinion, the combination of puff pastry, cinnamon and apples is just a match made in heaven.
    There is truly no such thing as having too many delicious apple recipes!

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  37. Wonderful idea! Now that we're back in Wisconsin I'm excited to make more apple desserts. Glad you did the testing and perfecting for us :)

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  38. Yum! My Grandpa was a baker in the army during WWII and made his own puff pastry but I have never taken on that challenge. Maybe one day in honor of him.

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