Apple Eating Season

There are some ingredients that don't really make sense to DIY. Sometimes it's because of difficulty, sometimes it's because economies of scale make it more affordable to purchase name brand instead of sourcing all of the ingredients yourself. For me, puff pastry falls into this category perfectly. I'll try to make it for the experience and the hipster cred but like with dim sum and bitters, I'd rather just buy quality ingredients. With puff pastry, my thoughts instantly go to dessert. 

Napoleons are fantastic for dinner parties because all of the components can be made much earlier and assembled day of. Best of all, it looks elegant, impressive, and can be easily modified for whatever fruit is in season.

Ingredients

Mascarpone Cream

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 (8 oz) container mascarpone

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp spiced rum

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 packet of gelatin

Apple Butter

4 lbs of apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks

1 cup apple cider

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoons ground allspice

angostura bitters

1  17.3-ounce package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed. I prefer Pepperidge Farms.

2 large apples, sliced thinly

Powdered Sugar (for garnish)

Procedure

Apple Butter

Place apple and apple cider in a large heavy pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook until apples are completely tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Use an immersion blender or puree the softened apples in a blender in two batches.

Pour puréed apples back into the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Stir in sugar, lemon juice, and all of the spices. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until sauce turns a deep brown and thickens, about 1 to 2 hours, stirring regularly to prevent burning. Right before taking it off, add 5-6 dashes of bitters and cook for another minute while mixing well.

Let apple butter cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

Makes 1 cup of apple butter

Mascarpone Cream

Mix the gelatin with 1/8 cup of water and microwave for 15 seconds.

Beat together yolks, sugar, rum, vanilla and a pinch of salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Beat in mascarpone until just combined. Add the gelatin mixture.

Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Fold cream into mascarpone mixture .

Heat the combined mixture over medium heat and beat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Let it cool and refrigerate to thicken it more. Lasts up to 3 days.

Puff Pastry

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Place 1 puff pastry sheet on work surface. Brush 1 edge of sheet with cold water. Place 1 edge of second pastry sheet atop wet edge of first sheet, overlapping by 2 inches, pressing to adhere, and forming 18x10-inch rectangle. Using rolling pin, roll out pastry to 1 large sheet, 19 to 20 inches long and 11 inches wide. Transfer pastry to ungreased 18x12x1-inch baking sheet. Pierce pastry all over with fork. Using sharp knife, trim pastry to fit sheet. Bake until golden, occasionally piercing pastry with fork to deflate slightly, about 25 minutes (pastry will shrink to about 15x10-inch rectangle). Cool completely on sheet.

Carefully transfer pastry to cutting board. Using serrated knife, cut pastry into three 14x3-inch rectangles. Trim any puffed portions of pastry to flatten and even slightly. Stack the pastries and cut into 10 equal rectangles (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover with foil; let stand at room temperature.) 

Assembly

Place mascarpone cream in piping bag with a large round tip (you can spoon it onto the pastries but I find piping to be inordinately easier).

Place 1 pastry rectangle down and spoon a layer of apple butter on top. Pipe on 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons worth of the cream. Smear on another layer of apple butter on a rectangle (it's easier if you do this in hand) and stack it on top of the pastry. Add 2 apple slices and pipe on another layer of the cream. Top with a final puff pastry. Repeat this with the rest of the pastry. Makes 10 large napoleons.