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.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

You know, lemon is the ingredient that makes the difference in some desserts...this is one of them.

A few weeks ago, I received a cooking book...or as I like to call it: The Cooking Bible. Why so? Because you can find everything there. You need a recipe for puff pastry? Page 367 in The Cooking Bible. Don`t know how to prepare fish? Cooking Bible got you covered. I also found a small "dictionary" in it, where all the words which are used in the kitchen are explained.

So there I was,thinking of what recipe to share with you. 

Yes, that`s right. I found out (from that Cooking Bible) which other ingredients pair well with lemon. Blueberry is my favorite, but I wanted something different. Something...that is "a lemon`s best friend". Poppy seed.

You won`t even guess how easy it is to whip up this bread. No mixer needed(only if you want to) and two bowls are everything you will need. 

First of all, when foreigners hear the word "bread", they instantly think of baked dough which is made with yeast and so on. So before you think that this recipe requires kneading and letting the dough rise...let me make everything clear.

Bread or Sweet Bread does not necessary mean a yeast-leavened staple food, but it also refers to a cake batter which is baked in a loaf pan. This recipe is exactly what I`m talking about: it contains sugar, no yeast and the mixing method is like that of the muffins.

As I mentioned, you`ll only need a whisk and a spatula. The hardest part is waiting for this delicious, moist, slightly tangy bread to bake. I guarantee your house will smell amazing!

Ingredients:

175 gr. container plain Greek yogurt

335 gr. brown sugar

zest(outer peel of the fruit, finely grated) of 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

3/4 Tablespoon lemon juice

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

83 gr. applesauce (make your own applesauce by cooking a chopped apple with 1 Tablespoon of water until it softens up and mash it with a fork)

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup poppy seeds

360 gr flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/375 degrees F. Butter or spray a loaf pan and put parchment paper on it, to ensure that nothing sticks. Set aside.

2.In a big bowl, toss together the flour, poppy seeds,baking powder and salt. Mix just to combine. These are your dry ingredients. Set aside.

3.In another big bowl (you`ll pretty much add your rest ingredients) whisk the yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil and milk until well combined, about 2 minutes. After that, add the lemon and vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice and the applesauce. Don`t worry about the applesauce, you won`t feel it`s taste at all, this recipe calls for it because apples increase moistness. Beat it together. These are your wet ingredients.

4. Dump the dry ingredients (nr.2) over the wet (nr.2). I wouldn`t recommend doing in reverse, as this may result a lumpy batter. Which is okay, but there are small chances you`ll find spots of flour in your final product.

However, gently combine the two (wet,dry) mixtures until combined. DO NOT over-mix or you`ll make your cake tough and dense.

5.Pour the resulting batter into the prepared pan and bake it for 1 hour and 10 minutes or so. Each oven is different, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or an uncooked spaghetti in the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean with no wet batter or it, then it`s done. If a few batter pieces cling on it, bake it 5-10 minutes more, checking after such time.

Leave it to cool completely and glaze it with a sugar-lemon glaze or dust it with powdered sugar. Cut and enjoy!