Start up a conversation about holiday pies and you’ll find that people are passionate and opinionated about their seasonal favorites. When it comes to pumpkin pie in particular, well, there’s just a lot of opining about the filling, the crust, the topping and the temperature pumpkin pie should be served. To be perfectly honest, I’ve tried to love pumpkin pie all of my life. I’ve tried it extra-sweet, creamy, cold, whipped cream-topped soft crust, crispy crust and every variation in between. What’s wrong with me? To this day I find pumpkin pie rather…boring and obligatory. So while I’m waiting for the pumpkin pie recipes from you that will surely change my mind (please!) I’m offering up a pie of a different sort. Delicious, beautifully-presented miniature fruit pie that reflects my Italian heritage; the Apple Pie Ravioli. After all, this is the time of year we do things a little more special, a little more glittery, a little more memorable. These Apple Pie Ravioli look like you’ve spent time at a culinary institute, but they’re actually quite simple, beginning with store-bought refrigerated pie dough. The filling is the same as in a delicious homemade apple pie, and with some dough cutouts and a little sprinkle of decorative sugar, you have gorgeous, individual holiday mini pies that wow. This year, make your holiday dessert table a little extra yummy and extra beautiful with Apple Pie Ravioli!
Granny Smith apples
Apple Pie Cookies
My generation is the very last one to use pencil and paper as the primary method of gathering, compiling and sharing information. So for me, rescuing recipes from the past where our ancestors scribbled beloved dishes on scratch pads, napkins, receipts or back of envelopes has taken an even greater sense of urgency. However, I also love writing about how an old favorite becomes trendy again, re-introducing itself to a whole new generation. The Apple Pie is the perfect example. Do you ever remember life without it? But have you seen the newest version of our nation’s sweetheart dessert? Let me introduce you to the latest viral food sensation, the Apple Pie Cookie. It’s fun, it’s delicious, it’s cute and it makes you feel like you can eat one and not gain a pound! The Apple Pie Cookie uses all the same ingredients as a good old fashioned apple pie–it’s just reconstructed into little lattice-topped discs of yumminess. Nothing will ever replace our love for the iconic American apple pie, but I think even Granny Smith would love these! These are perfect for a fun Labor Day holiday spread!
Apple Tart with Caramel Sauce
The Story
So I find myself, once again, in the middle of a “whodunnit.” Who really invented the flakey, delicate, butter-ladened layers of dough we’ve come to know and love as puff pastry? The French will say it was invented by a French apprentice bakery cook named Claudius Gele in 1645, who brought the recipe to Florence where it became wildly popular.
Ah, but the Italians cry foul and say that puff pastry was already being made in Italy long before that – as early as 1525 – and they say there is a document to prove it!
For this beautiful apple tart, made with puff pastry and caramel sauce, I’m staying out of the argument and focusing on thawing the dough, slicing the apples and baking (at least I know where apples come from – thank you, Johnny Appleseed! Maybe…)! This apple tart is simple and elegant, a sweet that is perfect with coffee in the morning or as a satisfying dessert any time of the day. The only important do-ahead is to take the puff pastry out of the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. I think that once you make an apple tart like this, it will become one of your treasured treats. I say let the French and Italians duke it out over this one, and we’ll make apple tarts and not war!
