An Easy Baked Apple Pie Rose Tart

Do you love apple pie?  There is something so incredibly tantalizing and inviting about the scent of a warm apple pie just fresh out of the oven.  The flaky, golden crust filled with soft, sweet cinnamon glazed apples.....I can say only one thing.....YUM!  When baking a whole apple pie is not in your schedule, you can get that crisp apple pie taste you desire with an easy baked apple pie rose tart.

These miniature beauties are as pretty and delicious as they are fast and super easy to make.   Start with some ready made pie crust dough or, in my case, I made my own pie crust dough from scratch.   Carefully roll out the dough.  (If you are making the dough from scratch, try to roll it out in the shape of a 9 in. x 12 in. rectangle.  Remember that any remaining scraps of dough can be cut out in various shapes from a small cookie cutter and baked as an embellishment for the tart.)

Next cut 3 Braeburn apples (or any other cooking apple, such as Jonagold or Honey Crisp) in half leaving the apple unpeeled but cored.  Cut thin slices from each half of apple, cutting each slice to approximately 1/8 inch thick.  In a separate dish, mix approximately 3 T lemon juice,  2 T butter, 1/4 C brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and a pinch of ground ginger.  Microwave the sauce for 25 seconds or until the butter is melted.  Add your sliced apples, stir the apples to coat them in the sauce and microwave again for approximately 2 minutes (depending on your microwave's settings) or until the apple slices are pliable but not fully cooked and soft.  Let cool.

While the apple slices are cooling, cut your pie crust dough in 6 long rectangular pieces approximately 2 inches wide.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the additional white sugar and cinnamon.

 

Now comes the fun part.  Working left to right, line the apple slices across the top edge of the pie crust dough like it shows in the picture below.

Carefully fold the bottom portion of the dough to partially cover the apples.  Make sure the top of the apple slices remain showing since they will form the rose petals of the tart.  

The last step is to begin rolling the dough from left to right while you guide the apples on the top so that they stay in place within the dough.  Place the rose in a parchment paper lined muffin tin.  

After your apples are made into roses, it is time to bake them at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown and baked through.  Let them cool before removing them from the pan and before removing the parchment paper.  Place them on a decorative paper muffin/cupcake holder, dust with powdered sugar and serve with some caramel nut flavored coffee.  These scrumptious apple pie rose tarts have that perfect autumn flavor but are made to look like a beautiful rose freshly picked from the summer garden.   

Below is a link for a printable version of this recipe:

 Baked Apple Pie Rose Tart