Apple Napoleons Recipes

APPLE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Place pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture. Carefully roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 3 inch squares, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with more parchment and another baking sheet. Chill in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake pastry in oven until crisp and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Remove top parchment and baking sheet. Transfer, with bottom parchment, to a wire rack, and let cool.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add apples; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add remaining cinnamon mixture. Cook until apples are tender but not falling apart. Let cool completely. To assemble, top the pastry with whipped cream then apples; repeat with another layer of each. Serve immediately.

NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Roll out three sheets of puff pastry, each to the same size and a thickness of 1/8 inch. Prick with a fork, and place on baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 10 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk with fingers until smooth. Stir in cake flour and half the sugar. Beat in egg yolks. Set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, bring remaining milk and remaining sugar to a rolling boil. Stir in egg yolk mixture; continue stirring and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool.
• In a small saucepan or in the microwave, heat the jam until runny.
• Place one sheet of pastry on a board. Spread with cooled pastry cream to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Place a second pastry sheet over the cream. Brush with fruit glaze. Spread remaining pastry cream over glaze. Top with final pastry sheet and gently compress layers, using a baking sheet to press.
• To make icing, beat together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice with enough of the egg whites to make a creamy consistency like that of a cream soup. Working quickly, color a small portion of the frosting with red food coloring. Frost the top and sides of the assembled pastry with white icing. Pipe parallel lines of red icing on top of dessert, then draw a pick or knife crosswise through icing to make the traditional design. Let icing set before cutting into bars.

APPLE PIE NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Bake apple pie per package instructions. Let cool. Once cooled, break up pie with a fork.
• Thaw puff pastry sheet at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Unfold puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along the fold marks. Place strips 2-inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
• In a small bowl combine whipped topping and cinnamon sugar. Set aside.
• In a small mixing bowl, beat on low speed with an electric mixer the cream cheese and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add caramel creme liqueur and beat until smooth.
• Place one baked puff pastry sheet on a platter. With the back of a fork, gently push down center of the pastry creating a trough for filling. Spoon in some broken-up apple pie, and then layer with 1 cup of whipped topping mixture. Repeat with next layer. Top with baked pastry sheet. Drizzle with glaze and serve.

APPLE HASH NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Preheat convection oven to 275 degrees F.
• Cover a sheet pan with a silpat mat or parchment paper. Using a Japanese mandoline, julienne the apple into thin sticks, like potato sticks. Make little nests or haystacks of the sticks on the silpat, about 3 inches in diameter.
• Spatter the haystacks with melted clarified butter and douse with powdered sugar from a shaker. Bake in a convection oven until dry and crisp, about 60 to 75 minutes. Or use a fruit dehydrator to dry them out. Store them in an airtight container until ready to serve.
• To make the sauce, place the cider in a small saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Continue cooking until it becomes a thick golden syrup, about 1 hour. Let cool until ready to serve. You can refrigerate it if made the day before.
• To serve the dessert, place one apple hash on a dessert plate, top it with a scoop of ice cream, then carefully place another piece of hash on top as a lid. Press down gently. Spoon a "swoosh" of cider reduction on the plate and sprinkle the whole thing with powdered sugar.
• Put a large mixing bowl in the freezer to chill.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the half-and-half, cream, vanilla bean, and star anise to a simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn?t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
• In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. When the cream mixture reaches a fast simmer turn it off, do not let it boil!
• In a thin stream, whisk half of it into the egg yolk mixture. Then pour the egg-cream mixture into the saucepan containing the rest of the cream mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. At 160 degrees F, the mixture will give off a puff of steam. When the mixture reaches 180 degrees, it will be thickened and creamy, like eggnog. If you don?t have a thermometer, test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the mixture. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the stripe remains clear, the mixture is ready, if the edges blur, it is not quite thick enough yet. When it is ready, quickly remove from the heat.
• Meanwhile, remove the bowl from the freezer, put 4 handfuls of ice cubes in the bottom, and add cold water to cover. Rest a smaller bowl in the ice water.
• Strain the cream mixture through a fine sieve to remove the vanilla bean pieces and star anise, into a smaller bowl. Stir in the homemade applesauce and chill 3 hours, then freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker.
• Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, "American Brasserie? by Gale Gand, Rick Tramonto, Julia Moskin, MacMillian, Publishers, 1997

SAUTEED APPLES AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add apples and onions; saute in the hot pan, adding salt, cumin, and balsamic vinegar, until onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.

APPLE CHEESECAKE NAPOLEONS RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Thaw puff pastry on counter according to package directions (takes about 30-40 minutes). Heat oven to 400°F. Unfold pastry and cut along the two seems into 3 rectangles. Then cut horizontally, creating 6 pieces. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely. Once cooled, slice in half lengthwise through the center. Set aside or store in airtight container until ready to assemble. For the filling, beat cream cheese, sugar and cream together for 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Set aside, or refrigerate until ready to assemble. While thawing the puff pastry, peel and dice the apples until you have 4 cups. Place in a large saucepan with brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. While stirring, bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce to medium and cook for 5-8 minutes, until apples are fork tender. Remove from heat and cool. Once cooled, assemble napoleons or refrigerate apple mixture until ready to assemble. ASSEMBLY: Open all the puff pastries and evenly divide the cream cheese mixture on the bottom "bun". Top with caramel apple mixture. Place puff pastry tops on and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. For added caramel flavor, drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce! Serve immediately after assembling!

SPICED APPLE NAPOLEONS WITH POMEGRANATE CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl. Place 1 phyllo sheet on work surface. Brush with half of melted butter. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon sugar. Top with second phyllo sheet. Brush with remaining butter. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Cut phyllo lengthwise in half; place 1 half atop other. Cut phyllo crosswise into 3 squares. Cut each square into 4 triangles for a total of 12 triangles. Place triangles on large baking sheet. Bake until deep golden, about 8 minutes. Cool on sheet.
• Stir 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup water and allspice in large saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to boil. Add apples; reduce heat and simmer until tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Mix in bourbon. Mix cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in small bowl; add to apple mixture and stir until liquid thickens slightly and mixture boils, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. (Phyllo triangles and apple mixture can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover separately. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm apple mixture over low heat before using.)
• Stir 1/2 cup water and brown sugar in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil until slightly reduced, about 6 minutes. Add pomegranate molasses and boil until syrupy, about 4 minutes. Cool. Place 1 phyllo triangle on each of 6 plates. Top each with warm apple mixture. Top each with another phyllo triangle. Drizzle pomegranate sauce over.

APPLE-AND-FIG NAPOLEONS WITH RED-WINE SAUCE AND SOUR-CREAM ICE CREAM

Steps:

• To make the ice cream, place the milk and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring just to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Whisking rapidly, pour the milk into the yolk mixture. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan, place over low heat and stir constantly until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; do not let mixture simmer. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cold. Remove the vanilla bean and whisk in the sour cream. Freeze in an ice cream machine. Store in freezer until shortly before serving.
• To make the phyllo, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on a work surface, brush lightly with butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Top with another sheet of phyllo, brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat once more. Trim the edges to make a 10-by-14-inch rectangle. Cut into 8 3 1/2-by-5-inch rectangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining phyllo, butter and sugar. Bake until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer until reduced to 1 1/3 cups, about 40 minutes. Strain and set aside.
• To make the apples, combine the apples, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, covered, for 8 minutes, stirring once. Uncover and simmer until apples are soft but not mushy and some liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes more. Remove the lemon zest and vanilla bean. Stir in lemon juice and set aside.
• To make the fig paste, puree the figs in a food processor. Add the cream, Armagnac and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Set aside.
• To assemble, place 1 piece of phyllo on each of 8 plates and spread with some of the fig paste. Spoon the apple mixture over it. Spoon a pool of the sauce beside the pastry on each plate. Lean 1 piece of remaining phyllo over the sauce and against one of the longer edges of the plated phyllo. Repeat with all the plates. Place a scoop of ice cream beside the napoleons and sprinkle with a few strands of lemon zest. Serve immediately.