These are another classic Valentine’s treat, with pastry strips overlaid with apple slices and rolled up to look like a rose. They also work as a tea-time treat any time of year.
Prep time 1 hour/Cook time 1 hour/Makes 12
Ingredients:
4 small reddish-skinned apples, such as Braeburns
1 tube pink gel food colour
375g (13 1/3 oz) ready-rolled puff pastry
flour, for dusting
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
15g melted butter
icing sugar, to dust
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6).
Quarter the apples and remove the core, then slice, by hand, into the thinnest slices possible. Put 200ml (4/5 cup) water in a lidded frying pan with the pink colouring. Stir well then add the apples, mix gently to coat in the pink liquid, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5-7 minutes until the apples are translucent and blushed pink. Drain through a sieve and spread the slices out on a large plate or tray lined with kitchen paper and set aside to cool.
Remove the pastry from the fridge 10 minutes before using. Unroll the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface so that it lies as a horizontal rectangle. Lightly dust the top with flour then roll it out thinner (just rolling directly away from you with the rolling pin), until the pastry measures about 30cm (12 in) in depth.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together then sprinkle evenly over the top of the pastry. Cut 12 vertical strips of pastry, each about 2cm (4/5 in) wide (you don’t need all the pastry).
Brush a 12-well cupcake or muffin tray with melted butter. Taking one strip of pastry at a time, stretch it out until it is about 38-40cm (16 in) long. Arrange 10-15 apple slices, slightly overlapping, along the length of the pastry. The apple slices should be placed half-sitting on the pastry, with the curved peel edge sticking out onto the worktop, to form the petals. Roll up the pastry into a loose coil. Place in one hole of the prepared tray. Repeat with the remaining pastry strips and apples to make more tarts.
Cover loosely with foil – this is important, or the apples will burn. Transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the pastry is crisp. Gently lift the tarts out of the tins to a wire rack.
Whilst still warm, gently ease out the apple petals to make them look prettier, then allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
