Orange Apple Turnovers

When I`m saying you`ll love these...trust me. Not even my mom could resist them.

See all those flaky, buttery layers? That, my friend, is the cherry on top. And because the pastry is so rich, I added apples and a hint of orange flavour to "cut" the generous amount of butter.

You must be thinking:"Making pastry is such a pain in the butt.". This recipe does not involve crumbling butter in flour and waiting for it to cool...that`s too much work. So this is why I used puff pastry, or you may know it is phyllo dough.

I`m a great fan of whatever is flaky, crunchy and buttery. So you could bet I`ll grab a croissant instead of a muffin. Yes, there: I said it! Croissants, turnovers, fruit puffs or cheese straws, they are my guilty pleasure.

Just look at all those heavenly layers! Damn!

This happens only if the pastry is kept as cold as possible, so make sure you use your fingertips and cold ingredients. 

Now, another star of the show: the orange apple filling.

In the picture above you can see small traces of orange zest so don`t worry, those aren`t worms. 

I wanted something slightly different than the usual,plain apple filling. So I let it to marinate with orange juice and spices. 

Unfortunately, I didn`t have any strong orange liquor (like Grand Marnier) on hand to use that. That would have been the bomb. If you have some, feel free to add between 1 and 3 teaspoons.

Ingredients:

400 gr. puff pastry/phyllo dough, thawed

2 medium apples (use any type you like)

zest(grated peel) and juice of 1 large orange

a pinch of cinnamon

1 Tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

a pinch of nutmeg (or less)

For the top: 1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoons of milk/water

                         granulated sugar to sprinke for crunchiness 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180 C/375 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.

Peel and finely grate the apple. Some recipes require cooking the apple till tender, but I like to keep things as simple as possible.

Toss the grated pulp in a small bowl, together with the orange zest, juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, sugar and combine it well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge(or somewhere cold) for at least 30 min. to 2 hours.

Unroll the thawed puff pastry (it`s best to leave it to thaw in the fridge, overnight or 2 hours on your counter) and cut it in 4 large squares. Cut each large square into another 4 little squares. If you don`t like triangle-shaped turnovers, than cut round shapes or whatever your heart desires.

Stretch each square a bit before putting 1 and 1/2 teaspoons on each piece,diagonally, leaving a margin. Damp the edges with a little bit of beaten egg, fold each square to make a triangle, press the edges together with the back of a fork. 

Brush each turnover on top with the beaten egg and sprinkle some sugar. Cut several slits in the top with a knife to let the steam escape.

Bake them for 30 minutes, more or less, depending on how hot your oven is. Serve hot or cold.