Apple Turnovers – with cream filled option

Apple Turnovers – handheld puff pastry pies baked with a cinnamon apple filling. Easy to make, the only question is: to fill with cream or not? There’s a case for both!!

Apple Turnovers

If you have golden flaky puff pastry and it’s stuffed with warm cinnamon apple cubes in a syrupy caramel sauce, you can’t really go wrong whichever path you go down for serving. But – options are a good thing – because wouldn’t life be boring if we all liked the same thing? 

So, today, you have a choice of Apple Turnovers two ways – classic plain or cream filled!

Ingredients in apple turnovers

Here’s what you need to make apple turnovers.

APPLE TURNOVER CINNAMON FILLING

• Apples – Granny Smith apples are my favourite apple option. Good balance of tartness with sweet, and they hold their shape. Most red apple varieties will break down more so you end up with a compote inside (which makes base soggy), and are sweeter. Also, not recommended to make this without pre-cooking apples, see post for more info.

• Cornflour / cornstarch – This thickens the apple juices to make a syrup so it doesn’t soak the base of the puff pastry. Nobody likes a turnover with a soggy base!

• Sugar – I use white sugar because I like to keep the syrup clearer. But brown sugar also works fine, and makes a slightly more caramely tasting syrup.

• Cinnamon – For flavour! Cinnamon plus apple is like basil and tomato, bread and butter, cheese and crackers. 🙂

• Vanilla – Also for flavour.

• Pinch of salt – This just brings out the flavours of everything else. It doesn’t make it salty at all. Standard practice in sweet baking. 🙂

PUFF PASTRY

• Butter puff pastry is tastier than oil based puff pastry. It’s a little more expensive because butter is more expensive than oil, but it really is tastier.

  Size – Here in Australia, the most common way puff pastry is sold is in 25cm/10″ square sheets, frozen. There are some more premium brands sold in larger sheets that I use for special dishes like Beef Wellington. But for everyday purposes, I use the square ones which are handy for apple turnover because each sheet makes 4 nicely sized turnovers. 🙂

• Egg – This is for sealing the turnovers and brushing the surface so it comes out of the oven lovely and golden.

CREAM

I have things to say about the cream options for Apple Turnovers. Read on!

For the cream – you’ll need either:

1. Soft whipped cream for dunking the plain turnovers (as mentioned above, optional but strongly, strongly recommended!). You want to use soft whipped cream so it’s dunkable; or

2. Stabilised whipped cream OR stiff whipped cream for the cream filled turnovers. You know how light and airy regular whipped cream is? Well, if you use that in apple turnovers, the cream will literally just squirt out completely with the first bite.

   So I recommend using stabilised whipped cream because it tastes like regular whipped cream but it’s stabilised so it doesn’t squirt out everywhere with the first bite. Plus the cream filled turnovers will last in the fridge for 24 – 36 hours without the cream melting and deflating. It’s really easy to make – just cream and mascarpone whipped together. 

However, ordinary whipped cream tastes totally fine too. Just beat it so it’s stiff and pip-able. It will squirt out with the first bite. But that’s ok! Just mop it up!

How to make apple turnovers

Some recipes will skip cooking the apple filling on the stove. Tempting, I know. But it does make the base more soggy because the apple leeches more juices. Also, the apple pieces cook unevenly. It really is worth cooking the filling first!

APPLE TURNOVER FILLING

1. Cornflour / cornstarch – Put the apples in a large saucepan and toss with the cornflour / cornstarch. Tip: large saucepan is better because the apple juices evaporate faster so you get a thicker caramel coating on the apples. Small saucepan = more watery sauce.

2. Mix – Add the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt then mix to coat.

3. Cook for 5 minutes on medium (or medium high on weaker stoves) until the apples are softened but still holding their shape. The sauce should thicken into a syrup.

4. Cool – Spread the filling onto a plate and let it cool completely. Don’t use a bowl, it makes the apples sweat more and thins the sauce.

MAKING THE APPLE TURNOVERS

TIP: Use puff pastry when it is barely thawed. Much easier to handle! Overly soft puff pastry gets floppy and sticky, and is a total pain to handle. If your puff pastry softens too much, just stick it back in the freezer for a bit.

1. Cut the barely thawed puff pastry into 4 equal pieces (12.5cm / 5″ squares).

2. Egg – Brush two sides of the pastry with the whisked egg.

3. Filling – Place 2 tablespoons of filling on the egg brushed side. Avoid the apple sauce, it will make the base too soggy and if it leaks onto the edge where you brushed the egg, it will prevent it from sealing properly.

4. Fold the puff pastry over to cover the filling.

5. Seal the edges using a fork dipped in flour (prevents it from sticking to the puff pastry). By pressing down firmly and crimping the edge, it seals it well.
6. Refrigerate – As you complete each turnover, place them on a cutting board lined with paper. Then refrigerate for 20 minutes – this makes the turnovers puff up better. (PS Don’t chill the turnovers on a baking tray, it will compromise how well the base cooks because the cold tray takes time to heat up).
7. Egg wash and prick – Slide the sheet of paper with the turnovers on them onto a large baking tray. Brush with whisked egg (makes them nice and golden), then prick the surface 3 times with a small knife. Steam escape holes – reduces risk of the filling leaking out of the seams.
8. Bake for 25 minutes at 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced), or until the turnovers are golden. And they’re done! So now, eating options: plain, or cream filled!