Apple turnover cinnamon filling
How to make Apple Turnovers
Apples – Granny Smith apples are my favourite apple option. Good balance of tartness with sweet, and they hold their shape. Most red apple varieties will break down more so you end up with a compote inside (which makes base soggy), and are sweeter. Also, not recommended to make this without pre-cooking apples, see post for more info.
Cornflour / cornstarch – This thickens the apple juices to make a syrup so it doesn’t soak the base of the puff pastry. Nobody likes a turnover with a soggy base!
Sugar – I use white sugar because I like to keep the syrup clearer. But brown sugar also works fine, and makes a slightly more caramely tasting syrup.
Cinnamon – For flavour! Cinnamon plus apple is like basil and tomato, bread and butter, cheese and crackers. 🙂
Vanilla – Also for flavour.
Pinch of salt – This just brings out the flavours of everything else. It doesn’t make it salty at all. Standard practice in sweet baking. 🙂
Puff pastry
How to make Apple Turnovers
Butter puff pastry is tastier than oil based puff pastry. It’s a little more expensive because butter is more expensive than oil, but it really is tastier.
Size – Here in Australia, the most common way puff pastry is sold is in 25cm/10″ square sheets, frozen. There are some more premium brands sold in larger sheets that I use for special dishes like Beef Wellington. But for everyday purposes, I use the square ones which are handy for apple turnover because each sheet makes 4 nicely sized turnovers. 🙂
Egg – This is for sealing the turnovers and brushing the surface so it comes out of the oven lovely and golden.
Cream
I have things to say about the cream options for Apple Turnovers. Read on!
Bowl of freshly whipped Chantilly cream – French whipped creamSoft whipped cream for dunking turnovers
How to make whipped cream ahead – Stabilised Whipped CreamStabilised cream or stiff whipped cream for cream filled turnovers
For the cream – you’ll need either:
Soft whipped cream for dunking the plain turnovers (as mentioned above, optional but strongly, strongly recommended!). You want to use soft whipped cream so it’s dunkable; or
Stabilised whipped cream OR stiff whipped cream for the cream filled turnovers. You know how light and airy regular whipped cream is? Well, if you use that in apple turnovers, the cream will literally just squirt out completely with the first bite.
So I recommend using stabilised whipped cream because it tastes like regular whipped cream but it’s stabilised so it doesn’t squirt out everywhere with the first bite. Plus the cream filled turnovers will last in the fridge for 24 – 36 hours without the cream melting and deflating. It’s really easy to make – just cream and mascarpone whipped together. Get the recipe here!
However, ordinary whipped cream tastes totally fine too. Just beat it so it’s stiff and pip-able. It will squirt out with the first bite. But that’s ok! Just mop it up!
How to make apple turnovers
Some recipes will skip cooking the apple filling on the stove. Tempting, I know. But it does make the base more soggy because the apple leeches more juices. Also, the apple pieces cook unevenly. It really is worth cooking the filling first!
Apple turnover filling
