Heavenly Garden Apple Rose Pastries

My girls and I enjoyed baking Apple Roses in preparation for the feast of St. Thérèse!  There are many variations of Apple Roses that can be found online, including pies, tarts, cakes and more, but we decided to use the puff pastry sheet we had in the freezer to make the following Apple Rose Pastries.  Happy Feast of St. Thérèse! 

Heavenly Garden Apple Rose Pastries

adapted from here and here

Ingredients:

• 1 Puff Pastry Sheet 
• 3 Apples - I used a combination of Fuji and Pink Lady
• 5 Tablespoons Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 pinch Nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
• 4 cups Water
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• Powdered Sugar for dusting (optional)
• Parchment Paper

Directions:



Wash and core the apples. Slice in very thin slices, slightly smaller than 1/8 inch.  Place the sliced apples in a saucepan along with the 4 cups water, 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 2 minutes, or until the apple slices soften and can easily bend. 



Strain the apples and let cool in the colander.  Line a plate with paper towels and nicely arrange the apple slices so that they can dry and cool completely.

While the apples are cooling, mix the 5 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest.  Prepare you work surface by lightly sprinkling it with some flour (or just use a silicone mat) and unfold the sheet of puff pastry (it is easiest to work with if it is not completely thawed).  Using a pastry (or pizza) cutter, cut long strips approximately 1/2 inch wide.  Spread the cinnamon mixture over the dough and slightly press it down.

By this time your apples should be cool and almost dry.  Take a few slices and place them on the first strip of pastry dough, overlapping them so they do not fall out and will create a rose-like design (petals) once completed.  Now start rolling, making sure it is fairly tightly rolled.  Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Repeat until you have create all of the Apple Roses.

Bake at 425˚F for 25 minutes, or until nicely golden.

Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

St. Thérèse, the little flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love; ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more. -Rose Novena

Pin It

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week Five

This past week we celebrated the fifth week of the Easter season with The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter and a Good Shepherd's Garden Party based on the theme "The Gardener Plants Paradise."

The Gardener Plants Paradise Menu Suggestions

Maple Leaf Cookies
Lemon Crème Flower Cookies
Fresh Fruit
Owl Cupcakes
Olives and/or Rosemary Olive Oil Crackers
Palm Tree Picks in Cheese Cubes
Lily Sandwiches

Decorating Ideas

Roses, Lilies and/or other Flowers
Palm Tree Decorations (Picks, Napkins, etc.)

Charlotte just posted pictures from their 5th Good Shepherd's Garden Party.  You can click on over to Waltzing Matilda to see all of her pictures, including her darling Owl Cake and these beautiful Roses and Lilies!

This year, I ended up making tea sandwiches for our Roses and Lilies and a fun fruit platter for the Palm Tree!   You can see the rest of our pictures over at Shower of Roses.

Now it's your turn!  How did you and your family celebrate the fifth week of Easter?  We'd love to see pictures and hear about how you modified our Good Shepherd's Garden Party for your family, or incorporated any of our other ideas (whether you choose daily activities or just one party for the week) into your celebration.  We'd also love to see any food related posts for Mother's Day or the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima!

To Participate:

1. Create a post about your Good Shepherd's Garden Party or activities for the fifth week of Easter and/or Mother's Day.
2. Using the linky below, enter the exact link to your post.
3. Add a link your post, referring back to this post so that others can find the party as well!  (Please feel free to include the Good Shepherd's Garden Party Button if you'd like!)
4. Be sure to visit the links and see how everyone else has been celebrating!
5. The linky will be open until next Monday when we add a new one for Week 6.

*Be sure to take a look at all of the Week Six links from last year 2010 and 2011 for all sorts of great ideas!


Pin It

Mum Cupcakes

Since the month of May is dedicated to our Blessed Mother, and with Mother's Day coming up this weekend, I thought I would share the directions for these cupcakes, which we recently made at our last Little Flowers Girls' Club Meeting based on the virtue of Responsibility and St. Anne, Mary's Mum!   They were very easy to make, though they did take a little bit of time to assemble.  The girls all had so much fun making each of their cupcakes.  I thought they all turned out beautiful and were worth the time!  

Mum Cupcakes

inspired by What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
Light Colored Frosting (I used a cream cheese frosting)
Colored Sanding Sugars
Mini Marshmallows (you can use the pastel colored ones or plain white)
Licorice Pastels (I couldn't find this candy so I skipped these)
Green Licorice Twists (I used a couple packages of Rainbow Twizzlers)

Directions:

Bake the cupcakes and allow them to cool completely before topping each with a thin layer of frosting.

Use a separate bowl for each color of sanding sugar you plan to use (this will also allow you to save any extra for future use). Make the petals for the cupcakes by cutting mini marshmallows in half on the diagonal. The authors suggest 22 mini marshmallows for each cupcake. Depending on how big your marshmallows are and how closely you space the petals, you may need more or less. I used white mini marshmallows, but depending on the colored sugars you are using the pastel colored marshmallows would be very pretty as well. Once you've cut the marshmallows, press the cut side (it will be sticky) into the sugar to coat.

Starting along the outside edge of the cupcake, arrange like-colored marshmallow petals with the sugared sides up. Go all the way around the outside edge then move in and create another row of the same colored marshmallows inside the first. Continue until you've almost completely covered the cupcake. Repeat to cover all of your cupcakes with the marshmallows.

I skipped this step, but if you are using the licorice pastels, insert 5 like-colored ones into the center of each cupcake as stamens. I just used extra marshmallows to cover the entire cupcake since I forgot to buy the licorice pastels. Arrange the flower cupcakes on a serving platter and trim the green licorice twists to look like stems for the flowers.

Pin It