By Jessie Lehail,

Special to The Post

 

A homemade fruit pie with a flaky crust is the ultimate summer dessert. But what could possibly make a good pie even better? Transforming them into mini-roses. 

These pretty desserts are perfect for entertaining. The rose form helps to contain everything in its own flaky, tender crust, making it less messy than a traditional fruit pie.

These mini-pies are easy to create, and the blend of ground fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom offers a unique and spicy rendition to traditional pie flavours. The best part is that you can recreate this pie using different fruit like pears, nectarines, peaches, and plums. Serve with vanilla ice cream or fluffy whipped cream for a summer treat.  

 

• 1 sheet of puff pastry dough (thawed) 

• 3 apples 

• 6 tablespoons sugar

• Juice of half lemon

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 

• ½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

• ½ teaspoon ground cloves

• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

• Powdered icing sugar for dusting

 

Cut apples into quarters, remove core and cut into thin slices. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and lemon juice and set on high. When it starts to boil, bring to a roaring boil and set aside. Remove the apple slices and dry on paper towel and let them cool. Next, unfold the puff pastry dough. Ensure that the pastry dough is not completely thawed, you want it to be cold. Sprinkle the remaining sugar and ground spices on the dough, adding more or less sugar according to preference. Cut the dough into strips about 1.5 cm, and on each strip arrange the cooled apple slices, slightly overlapping. Roll the dough into rose forms. Place each rose on a tray lined with baking paper and place in a hot oven preheated to 375F. Bake until crisp and browned, about 18 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar after they have cooled.

 

Jessie Lehail is the author of Indian Influence, a food blog that takes global eats and reinterprets them with a South Asian influence. Visit her blog at www.indianinfluence.ca.