Cinnamon-apple roses and cherry pie

Make short crust pastry and blind bake.

Note: You won’t be using all the pastry for the base, as the top needs a few strips as well. Once the pastry is done (220°C), turn the oven down for preheating at 200°C.

For the roses:

Cook the apple slices lightly with enough water to cover the apples in the pot, This makes them softer and easier to work with.

Lay a strip of pastry down, and place the apple slices with the rounded side sticking out over the pastry.

Overlap the apples to create a better petal effect.

Fold the roses, then set them aside.

Watch this video to learn how to fold apple roses. The longer the strip, the bigger the rose.

For the cinnamon and apple filling:

There are many methods to go about this. My favourite is to cook it up using pectin. Pectin is used in most all-natural jams, jellies, marmalades or preserves. It’s a natural substance that occurs in many fruits, and when heated with sugar, it creates a thickening effect.

Heat all the ingredients together in a small sauce pan until it reduces.

Remove the cores.

Set aside.

For the cinnamon and apple pie:

This is the fun part: you can decorate the pie any way you want and using cookie cutters is a great way to get fun shapes. You can also use pastry strips for a more traditional apple pie look.

Roll the pastry out and cut into strips. Add the cinnamon apple filling, but keep some of the syrup aside.

Lay the strips over the pie. Lay the apple roses on top of the pie.

Drench the roses with the syrup and pour the rest into the pie.

Whisk the egg and brush the exposed pastry.

Bake for 15–25 minutes.

Serving suggestion:

Lay fresh scored half cherries around and brush the tips of the apple roses with edible gold dust. Then whip up some vanilla and cream to go with it.

Recipe reprinted with permission of Butterfingers. To see more recipes, please click here.