Pink Lady Cinnamon Roses

Ingredients

A little butter or vegetable oil, for greasing
3 South African Pink Lady apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 sheets filo pastry, thawed if frozen
80g butter, melted
6 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
A few pinches of ground cinnamon
Icing sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preparation

20 minutes

Cooking

25 minutes

Serves

6

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan oven 180°C, Gas Mark 6. Grease 6 holes of a muffin tin with butter or vegetable oil.

2 Core and thinly slice the apples, putting the slices into a bowl with 300ml just-boiled water with the lemon juice as you do them, so that they don’t brown. Microwave them on HIGH for 3 minutes to soften. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly.

3 Working on one at a time, brush a sheet of filo pastry with melted butter. Fold it in half lengthways, then brush the surface with butter and fold in half again lengthways. Brush with 1 tablespoon of warmed apricot jam. Arrange apple slices along the top end of each strip with the pink peel uppermost. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon, then roll up the pastry, so that the apple slices are just enclosed. Scrunch the pastry base and place in the muffin tin, so that the apples look like roses. Repeat to make 6 in total.

4 Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the apple slices are browning slightly along their edges. Cool for a few minutes, then remove from the muffin tins and serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar (if using).

Cook’s tip: Make green ‘roses’ with South African Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples.

South African Fruit