Apple dumplings just sound good. Ever since coming across a picture of apple dumplings in a 1970s Southern Living cookbook, I've wanted to bake them - warm fruit, filled with spices and nuts or candy (like Red Hots), encased in a sweet pastry, baked to golden goodness and topped with cream.
Making apple dumplings with delicious apples from the North Georgia mountains gives me a chance to use some special tools in my kitchen. I'm not a gadget junkie - I believe that a good set of knives and pots will get you through most recipes, but there are some specialized tools that don't take up much room in the gadget drawer and make fast, efficient work of some tasks - coring and sectioning apples, for example. I favor the corer pictured here on the left because it has a slide that pops out the core - I've broken several traditional corers just trying to remove the core from the tool. The corer/slicer on the right is handy when I need to section apples quickly and evenly - not a necessary item, to be sure, but it performs its job well.
Making the pastry gives me an excuse to use one of the rolling pins my husband made for me a few years ago. He surprised me on my birthday with three rolling pins, each out of walnut turned on a lathe. They’re displayed in a frame in my kitchen - a creative solution to an exposed pipe that didn’t fit into the soffit. Needing to cover the drain pipe, my clever husband crafted this open cabinet. The molding covers the drain pipe and my rolling pins are always at the ready.
The pin at the top is the pretties and is employed during Christmas sugar cookie baking. The second is heaviest and is ideal for working with very cold, buttery doughs that need a solid thwack to get warmed up and workable. My favorite is the angled French pin, perfect for turning corners and shaping pastry into a round for a pie. I used the heavy pin with the flaky cream cheese pastry dough for the dumplings, sectioning the dough then rolling each piece into a 6-inch square.
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 12 pieces
2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 1/2 ounces cold cream cheese (I used Neufchatel), cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
At least an hour before you plan to make the apple dumplings, make the pastry crust, so it will have time to chill out and relax.
1. In a food processor, combine the dry ingredients and stir together for a couple seconds.
2. Add the cream cheese and process for about 15 seconds or until mixture resembles crumbs. Add butter and process until all pieces are uniform and crumbly.
3. Using tube, pour in ice water and cider vinegar, slowly and process until incorporated. Dough will still be in pieces.
4. Remove the blade and dump the crumbly dough mixture into a large plastic bag. Using your fingers, press the mixture together. When it is a solid dough, press the air out, seal it and refrigerate for an hour or even overnight.
1 recipe Cream Cheese Pastry
Flour for dusting
6 baking apples such as Golden Delicious
Juice of one half lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Demerara or granulated sugar for glazing
For garnish: lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream or plain yogurt sweetened with honey and cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 425. Core apples, peel and brush with lemon juice.
2. In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, pecans and spices.
3. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and using your favorite rolling pin, one at a time, roll each piece of dough approximately 6 inches square. Place apple on pastry, fill cavity with sugar and pecan mixture. Brush edges of pastry with egg white. Bring opposite corners to the top of the apple and press seams together, being careful so that juices won't escape in the baking.
4. Place each dumpling on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Brush with more egg white and sprinkle with demerara or granulated sugar. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. When pastry is golden, remove from oven. Serve dumplings warm, garnished with sweetened whipped cream or yogurt, perhaps with cinnamon stirred in.
My evil twin will try anything once. She visited the Salon Kitchen Challenge last week with her Bostock creation - doughnuts soaked in coffee syrup and finished off with whipped cream and bacon. This week, my evil twin liberates a recipe from my friend Julie, who served up this unbelievably delicious panful of apple dumplings and said that the secret was a can of Mountain Dew in the sauce. That, plus it gives me an excuse to pop open a tube of crescent dough.
My evil twin likes to break recipes down in useful ways, here's the breakdown for Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings:
1. Apples, the All-American fruit filled with fiber and nutrition.
2. Wrapped in pastry from a tube.
3. Covered with melted butter and refined sugar.
4. Finished off with a can of flavored high fructose corn syrup.
1 good-size baking apple, such as Golden Delicious or Granny Smith
1 package ( 8 oz.) crescent rolls
1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 can (12 oz.) Mountain Dew (you'll need one half of the can)
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan, melt butter, then stir in sugar and vanilla. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, peel and core apple. Cut the apple into 8 equal slices and wrap each in a crescent triangle. (I'm assuming that I do not need to go into the play-play on popping open the tube, removing the dough and separating the pieces. Follow instructions on the can or here, if you need help.). Place each bundle of love into a pan coated with baking spray.
3. Pour butter and sugar mixture over the apples. Pop open the Dew and pour gently around the edges of the pan. You will only need half the can - the rest is the cook's treat. Bottoms up. Sprinkle the dumplings with a bit of cinnamon then put in the 350 oven for 40 minutes. Serve warm.
 |
| Apples. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Making apple dumplings with delicious apples from the North Georgia mountains gives me a chance to use some special tools in my kitchen. I'm not a gadget junkie - I believe that a good set of knives and pots will get you through most recipes, but there are some specialized tools that don't take up much room in the gadget drawer and make fast, efficient work of some tasks - coring and sectioning apples, for example. I favor the corer pictured here on the left because it has a slide that pops out the core - I've broken several traditional corers just trying to remove the core from the tool. The corer/slicer on the right is handy when I need to section apples quickly and evenly - not a necessary item, to be sure, but it performs its job well.
 |
| Apple Gadgets by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Making the pastry gives me an excuse to use one of the rolling pins my husband made for me a few years ago. He surprised me on my birthday with three rolling pins, each out of walnut turned on a lathe. They’re displayed in a frame in my kitchen - a creative solution to an exposed pipe that didn’t fit into the soffit. Needing to cover the drain pipe, my clever husband crafted this open cabinet. The molding covers the drain pipe and my rolling pins are always at the ready.
 |
| Rolling pins in cabinet by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
The pin at the top is the pretties and is employed during Christmas sugar cookie baking. The second is heaviest and is ideal for working with very cold, buttery doughs that need a solid thwack to get warmed up and workable. My favorite is the angled French pin, perfect for turning corners and shaping pastry into a round for a pie. I used the heavy pin with the flaky cream cheese pastry dough for the dumplings, sectioning the dough then rolling each piece into a 6-inch square.
 |
| Rolling out pastry by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
And then filling the apple with a mixture of brown sugar and pecans:
 |
| Apple on pastry by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
These are the apple dumplings, fresh from the oven:
 |
| Apple dumplings on baking sheet by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Cream Cheese Pastry for Apple Dumplings
Adapted from the "Pie and Pastry Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 12 pieces
2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 1/2 ounces cold cream cheese (I used Neufchatel), cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
At least an hour before you plan to make the apple dumplings, make the pastry crust, so it will have time to chill out and relax.
1. In a food processor, combine the dry ingredients and stir together for a couple seconds.
2. Add the cream cheese and process for about 15 seconds or until mixture resembles crumbs. Add butter and process until all pieces are uniform and crumbly.
3. Using tube, pour in ice water and cider vinegar, slowly and process until incorporated. Dough will still be in pieces.
4. Remove the blade and dump the crumbly dough mixture into a large plastic bag. Using your fingers, press the mixture together. When it is a solid dough, press the air out, seal it and refrigerate for an hour or even overnight.
 |
| Apple Dumplings by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Apple Dumplings
1 recipe Cream Cheese Pastry
Flour for dusting
6 baking apples such as Golden Delicious
Juice of one half lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Demerara or granulated sugar for glazing
For garnish: lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream or plain yogurt sweetened with honey and cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 425. Core apples, peel and brush with lemon juice.
2. In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, pecans and spices.
3. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and using your favorite rolling pin, one at a time, roll each piece of dough approximately 6 inches square. Place apple on pastry, fill cavity with sugar and pecan mixture. Brush edges of pastry with egg white. Bring opposite corners to the top of the apple and press seams together, being careful so that juices won't escape in the baking.
4. Place each dumpling on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Brush with more egg white and sprinkle with demerara or granulated sugar. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. When pastry is golden, remove from oven. Serve dumplings warm, garnished with sweetened whipped cream or yogurt, perhaps with cinnamon stirred in.
My evil twin will try anything once. She visited the Salon Kitchen Challenge last week with her Bostock creation - doughnuts soaked in coffee syrup and finished off with whipped cream and bacon. This week, my evil twin liberates a recipe from my friend Julie, who served up this unbelievably delicious panful of apple dumplings and said that the secret was a can of Mountain Dew in the sauce. That, plus it gives me an excuse to pop open a tube of crescent dough.
My evil twin likes to break recipes down in useful ways, here's the breakdown for Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings:
1. Apples, the All-American fruit filled with fiber and nutrition.
2. Wrapped in pastry from a tube.
3. Covered with melted butter and refined sugar.
4. Finished off with a can of flavored high fructose corn syrup.
 |
| Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings
Adapted from the Pioneer Woman Cooks!
1 package ( 8 oz.) crescent rolls
1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 can (12 oz.) Mountain Dew (you'll need one half of the can)
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan, melt butter, then stir in sugar and vanilla. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, peel and core apple. Cut the apple into 8 equal slices and wrap each in a crescent triangle. (I'm assuming that I do not need to go into the play-play on popping open the tube, removing the dough and separating the pieces. Follow instructions on the can or here, if you need help.). Place each bundle of love into a pan coated with baking spray.
3. Pour butter and sugar mixture over the apples. Pop open the Dew and pour gently around the edges of the pan. You will only need half the can - the rest is the cook's treat. Bottoms up. Sprinkle the dumplings with a bit of cinnamon then put in the 350 oven for 40 minutes. Serve warm.
Text & images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.
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I have never made apple dumplings. Yours look so good!
ReplyDeleteLove your collection of rolling pins and especially love the way they are displayed.
ReplyDeleteI have an antique glass rolling pin. You put ice in it to keep the pastry cold as you are rolling out the dough. It is very cool. Great article and pictures.
Great recipe! I ran a link to my food and history blog: http://frederickdouglassopie.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-foodway-series-origins-of.html
ReplyDeleteFred Opie
The evil mt. dew apple dumplings are the best I h ave ever tasted. I made them for fourth of july and we scarf
ReplyDeleteed them up
Three things: I need that corer, badly.
ReplyDeleteYour husband is so sweet-I love the rolling pins and the display case!
These dumplings look so pretty and make me ready for fall weather. Now.
Thanks, Elle, for visiting! The corer is from Pampered Chef. I bought it about 10 years ago, but I'm sure they still carry it. The apple slicer I found in a grocery store. I like that the handles are angled so that you can get some leverage on the fruit. *and I love my rollings pins & cabinet - they're always at the ready! Good husband!*
ReplyDeleteYour apple dumplings look soooo good. I've always wanted to make them but haven't yet. I think it's about time I do especially after seeing how good yours look! :) YUM!
ReplyDelete