Apple Rose Puff Pastry Tarts
This recipe and the Baked Brie with Figs and Honey recipe was a part of the Sweet and Salty Snack Board I made with Local Hive™ Honey.
If you’ve been around since the “Feed Me with Amanda” days, you know this was one of my first recipes. However, I’ve made some major changes and am finally posting the recipe for you all! Sorry it’s taken so long.
Some of the major differences you’ll see in this recipe from others is that it’s made with honey as the only sweetener. It’s also made with puff pastry instead of pie dough. You can use either, but I love the crunch on this. I also used Lucy Glo apples for this, which have a redish pink interior. They are delicious and taste amazing in these. And of course, they look amazing too.
These are an amazing treat to make on its own, served with ice cream, or on a snacking/grazing board (like I have here). They are a bit complicated to make, so I’ve tried to be as detailed as possible below and add as many photos too to assist.
Table of contents
Do You Need to Egg Wash Puff Pastry?
I prefer an egg wash on a puff pastry. It’s crispy and adds a ton of color. It also helps with binging the dough to itself. You do want to make sure you are covering the pastry in the oven for at least the first half so that you don’t over brown or burn the pastry however.
Can you Bake Puff Pastry Without Egg Wash?
Sure, but you won’t get the deserved coloring and the binding won’t work. You can always try a milk wash, but again, the binding won’t be as good and the color of the baked dough will be much more dull and look slightly uncooked. I recommend using the egg wash.
What is a Lucy Glo Apple?
Lucy Glo apples have a similar crunch and texture to a honey crisp (which can be substituted into this recipe. But their flesh is pinkish red. It’s slightly tart and delicious. It makes a great apple to bake with in this recipe that isn’t overly sweet. You should be able to find these in your local grocer for a certain season, usually starting in December. They are also great to eat on their own.
Can you freeze Apple Roses?
Yes, you should bake them first. If you can’t eat them all within a week, then take the leftovers into an airtight container and pop them into the freezer for up to a month. You can take them out, thaw them slightly (dab away any excess water), and put them back into the oven to reheat them.
Ingredients for an Apple Rose
Honey Butter
2 Tbsp SoCal Local Hive™ Honey
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Egg Wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp water
Apple Rose Tart
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed (9 oz)
3 apples*, sliced thinly (about 1-2 mm on a mandolin if you have one)
½ lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
½ tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup Honey Butter, recipe below
Egg wash, recipe below
Topping
2 Tbsp SoCal Local Hive™ Honey
Powdered sugar, optional
Honey Butter
- In a small microwaveable bowl add butter and honey. Cover and heat for 30-60 seconds. Stir and make sure mixture is smooth.
Egg Wash
- In another small bowl whisk your egg and water to create a smooth egg wash.
How to Make a Pastry Rose
1 – Grease 1-2 muffin/cupcake pans, you will need 12 wells.
2 – Toss apples in half of the lemon juice (about 3 Tbsp). Cover and cook apples in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Stop every 30 seconds to stir/toss apples and check doneness. They should bend, but not break.
3 – In a small bowl, mix the for spices and salt.
4 – Preheat your oven at 375° F.
5 – On a floured surface, lay out your puff pastry. Roll it out to be about 20” x 16-18”. Use a multi-wheel pastry cutter or pizza cutter to cut in half the 20” side (you should have 2 pieces now 10” x 16-18”). Then cut along the other side creating strips about 2-2.5” x 10”.
6 – Take one strip at a time, use a pastry brush to brush a line done the length of the pastry using the honey butter. Then sprinkle about ½ tsp of the spice blend across the honey butter.
7 – Next take apple slices and place along the middle of the pastry skin side out. Start with one on the very left side of the strip with the curved edge of the apple sticking just out beyond the pastry. Next take another apple slice and do the same, but layer that slice over the last slice of apple about half way (again, refer to photos). Continue until your pastry strip is covered with apples and one over hangs. Depending on apple size, this could be 5-8 slices.
8 – Next, fold up the bottom of the pastry to cover the bottom of the apple and smooth down. Brush egg wash on that side of the pastry that you just folded over.
9 – Starting from the left, where your over hanging apple is, start to roll up the pastry in a fairly tight swirl. Swirl until the whole pastry is wrapped up. You should be left with a little apple rose tart.
10 – Gently dunk the bottom part of the tart in the egg wash, or use a brush.
11 – Stick into the well of your cupcake/muffin pan.
12 – Continue with 11 remaining pastry strips and apples, repeating steps 6-10.
13 – Cover loosely with foil and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove foil after first 30 minutes. This will keep it from over browning.
14 – Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10-20 minutes.
15 – Remove from wells and place on a cooling rack. Brush apple and tart top with remaining 2 Tbsp of honey.Serve with additional honey and/or sprinkle with powdered sugar for appearance.
FAQ for Apple Rose Tarts
I used Lucy Glos. I always prefer something more tart for baking. So Lucy Glo, Pink Ladies, Granny Smith would be my choices.
No, you can definitely use store-bought puff pastry. Just be sure to use their rules for thawing properly.
Other Recipes to Try
Ingredients
Honey Butter
- 2 Tbsp SoCal Local Hive™ Honey
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp water
Apple Rose Tart
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed (9 oz)
- 3 apples* sliced thinly (about 1-2 mm on a mandolin if you have one)
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup Honey Butter recipe below
- Egg wash recipe below
Topping
- 2 Tbsp SoCal Local Hive™ Honey
- Powdered sugar optional
Instructions
Honey Butter
- In a small microwaveable bowl add butter and honey. Cover and heat for 30-60 seconds. Stir and make sure mixture is smooth.
Egg Wash
- In another small bowl whisk your egg and water to create a smooth egg wash.
Apple Rose Tart
- Grease 1-2 muffin/cupcake pans, you will need 12 wells.
- Toss apples in half of the lemon juice (about 3 Tbsp). Cover and cook apples in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Stop every 30 seconds to stir/toss apples and check doneness. They should bend, but not break.
- In a small bowl, mix the for spices and salt.
- Preheat your oven at 375° F.
- On a floured surface, lay out your puff pastry. Roll it out to be about 20” x 16-18”. Use a multi-wheel pastry cutter or pizza cutter to cut in half the 20” side (you should have 2 pieces now 10” x 16-18”). Then cut along the other side creating strips about 2-2.5” x 10”.
- Take one strip at a time, use a pastry brush to brush a line done the length of the pastry using the honey butter. Then sprinkle about ½ tsp of the spice blend across the honey butter.
- Next take apple slices and place along the middle of the pastry skin side out. Start with one on the very left side of the strip with the curved edge of the apple sticking just out beyond the pastry. Next take another apple slice and do the same, but layer that slice over the last slice of apple about half way (again, refer to photos). Continue until your pastry strip is covered with apples and one over hangs. Depending on apple size, this could be 5-8 slices.
- Next, fold up the bottom of the pastry to cover the bottom of the apple and smooth down. Brush egg wash on that side of the pastry that you just folded over.
- Starting from the left, where your over hanging apple is, start to roll up the pastry in a fairly tight swirl. Swirl until the whole pastry is wrapped up. You should be left with a little apple rose tart.
- Gently dunk the bottom part of the tart in the egg wash, or use a brush.
- Stick into the well of your cupcake/muffin pan.
- Continue with 11 remaining pastry strips and apples, repeating steps 6-10.
- Cover loosely with foil and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove foil after first 30 minutes. This will keep it from over browning.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10-20 minutes.
- Remove from wells and place on a cooling rack. Brush apple and tart top with remaining 2 Tbsp of honey.
- Serve with additional honey and/or sprinkle with powdered sugar for appearance.
These are delicious and amazing. The photos really helped to put them together.