No, your eyes are not fooling you. These apples are really pink on the inside! They are called hidden rose apples and not only are they beautiful to behold, but they are juicy & crisp with just the right balance of sweet & tart, basically everything you would hope for in an apple. Inspired by the name of these unique apples, I created these hidden rose apple tarts to capture the beauty of this remarkable fruit.
The concept of shaping fruit slices into a rose is not new by any means, but imagining an apple rose in this incredible pink hue was the creative influence for this recipe. Beth Kirby of Local Milk created an pink apple tart last fall with the flavors of rose water and nutmeg, so I followed suit with this recipe and the result was delicately delicious. Rose water, pistachios & a touch of nutmeg make for an intriguing combination when paired with the hidden rose apples.
I wanted this recipe to be something that could come together quickly, so using store bought puff pastry for the foundation was my first choice. The apples get thinly sliced, coated with sugar, rose water & nutmeg, and then heated ever so gently until they are soft & pliable. A simple base of finely ground pistachios & sugar gets infused with a touch of rose water & nutmeg to continue our flavor theme.
The result is a striking pastry that is almost too pretty to eat, almost. The finished pastries get brushed with honey to give them a gorgeous shine and then plated with a generous scoop of cardamom whipped cream. Cardamom, rose water, nutmeg & pistachios are complementary flavors that together with the hidden rose apples blossomed into a dessert that fascinates the palate. If you have been captivated by the beauty of these hidden rose apple tarts, it is worth hunting down some of these uncommon apples just to experience their remarkable beauty in your own kitchen.
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HIDDEN ROSE APPLE TARTS
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 4 tarts 1x
Ingredients
FOR THE APPLES:
- 3 hidden rose apples (or other pink apple variety), cored & sliced into 1/8″ wedges
- 1/2 tsp rose water
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
FOR THE PASTRY
- 1 16oz package of frozen puff pastry, thawed at room temperature per package instructions
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp rose water
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
FOR THE CARDAMOM WHIPPED CREAM
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
Instructions
FOR THE APPLES
- Gently toss the apple slices, sugar, rosewater & nutmeg together in a large pot and heat over medium heat for about 7 minutes or until the apples are just flexible, but not mushy, taking care to gently move the apples around so that they all soften. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
FOR THE PASTRY
- While the apples cool, pre-heat oven to 375f degrees & line two baking sheets with parchment paper
- Add the pistachios to the bowl of a food processor & process until finely ground. Add the sugar, rose water, nutmeg & salt to the ground pistachios & pulse to incorporate (about 10 seconds should do)
- Flour your work surface & gently roll one sheet of puff pastry with a rolling pin until it is smooth & large enough to cut out two 6″ rounds (I used this 6 cake cutter) – repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry & place puff pastry rounds onto the parchment lined baking sheets (you can save the puff pastry scraps for another use)
- To ensure the tarts will have a puffy outside crust, lightly score a border around the entire edge (about 1/2″ in width) with a paring knife & then prick everything inside this border with a fork.
- Evenly divide the ground pistachio blend onto the four pastry rounds, spreading it evenly across the inner circle of your puff pastry rounds
- Arrange the cooled apple slices on top of the ground pistachio blend, starting on the outside of the circle & working your way into the center
- Sift each tart with confectioners sugar & then bake the tarts on the centermost racks of the oven for 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets 1/2 way through
- While the tarts bake, whip the heavy cream with the sugar & ground cardamom until soft peaks
- Once the tarts are done baking, let them cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes & then serve with generous scoops of the cardamom whipped cream on the side
Notes
The recipe can easily be halved if you only want to make 2 tarts (just use 1 sheet of puff pastry)
There will most like be extra apple slices, so choose whichever slices work best aesthetically as you create your rose (you can eat the other slices over some yogurt or porridge for example)
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tart
