Apple turnovers with cream

Apple turnovers are cinnamon apple-filled puff pastry tarts. Easy to prepare, but should you fill it with cream? Both have merit!

Turnover Apple

Golden flaky puff pastry packed with warm cinnamon apple chunks in sticky caramel sauce is a winner regardless of serving method. Although alternatives are beneficial, life would be dull if everyone had the same preferences. 🙂

Today, you may have plain or cream-filled Apple Turnovers!

Plain, classic– Hot from the oven. Decorated with ice sugar and cream for dipping. The latter is rare in apple turnover recipes. It’s highly recommended in my world! Serving without is like eating Apple Crumble without ice cream. You understand. 😇

Full of cream! Traditional Aussie Apple Turnover. Here it is! It’s chilly because the cream melts if served heated. Since warm filling tastes better than cold, you lose some flavor. But a huge cream-filled apple turnover is irresistible and impracticable! Quite messy. We adore it.

Which one do I prefer? I love cream-filled turnovers, although I usually offer them warm with cream for dipping. Easy, quicker, and better turnovers when heated!

Making Apple Turnovers

Granny Smith apples are my favorite. Nice tart-sweet balance, and they keep their form. Most red apples are sweeter and break down more, creating a compote interior and mushy base. Pre-cooking apples is suggested for this recipe; see post.

Cornflour or cornstarch thickens apple juices into a syrup to prevent the puff pastry foundation from soaking. Nobody loves a soggy turnover foundation!

To keep the syrup clear, I use white sugar. Brown sugar works too and produces a caramelier syrup.

For flavor: cinnamon Combining cinnamon and apple is similar to pairing basil and tomato, bread and butter, or cheese and crackers. ���

Vanilla—for flavor.

The pinch of salt enhances the flavors of everything. It doesn’t add salt. Typical delicious baking technique. 🙂

Puff pastry – Making Apple Turnovers
Butter puff pastry tastes better than oil-based. Butter is more costly than oil, but it tastes better.

In Australia, puff pastry is often offered in frozen 25cm/10″ square sheets. Some premium brands have bigger sheets that I use for Beef Wellington. For daily usage, I like square sheets for apple turnovers, since each sheet yields 4 decently sized turnovers. 🙂

Egg: Seals and brushes turnovers so they come out golden.

CREAM
I have opinions about Apple Turnover cream. Read on!

French whipped Chantilly cream bowlDunking turnovers with soft whipped cream
How to create stabilized whipped cream aheadStabilized or stiff-whipped cream for cream-filled turnovers
Cream need either:

Dunking plain turnovers with soft whipped cream (optional but very recommended). For dunkability, use soft whipped cream;

Stabilized or firm whipped cream for cream-filled turnovers. You know how airy ordinary whipped cream is? Using it in apple turnovers will make the cream squirt out fully with the first bite.

I suggest stabilized whipped cream since it tastes like ordinary whipped cream but doesn’t spill out with the first mouthful. Cream-filled turnovers won’t melt or deflate in the fridge for 24–36 hours. Making it with whipped cream and mascarpone is simple. Recipe available here!

Plain whipped cream tastes nice too. Just beat it firm and pip-able. Squirts out on the first bite. That’s okay! Mop it up!

Making apple turnovers

Some versions forgo stove-cooking apple filling. Yes, tempting. Because the apple seeps fluids, the foundation becomes mushy. Also, apple slices cook unevenly. It’s worth boiling the filler first!

Toss apples with cornflour/cornstarch in a big pot. Tip: Large saucepans evaporate apple liquid quicker, giving apples a richer caramel coating. Small saucepans make watery sauce.

Mix sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt to coat.

Cook apples on medium (or medium hot on lesser stoves) for 5 minutes until softened but still keeping their form. Syrup should form from the sauce.

Spread the filling on a platter and cool thoroughly. Avoid bowls—they sweat the apples and dilute the sauce.

TIP: Use just thawed puff pastry. More manageable! Too-soft puff pastry is sticky and hard to manage. Put the puff pastry back in the freezer if it softens too much.

Unthawed puff pastry should be cut into 4 equal pieces (12.5cm / 5″ squares).

Egg – Brush two pastry sides with whisked egg.

Filling: Put 2 teaspoons on the egg-brushed side. Avoid apple sauce because it makes the foundation too mushy and prevents the egg from closing if it drips onto the edge.

Fold puff pastry over filling.

5. Use a floured fork to seal the edges (to avoid adhering to puff pastry). Firmly pressing and crimping the edge seals it.

6. Refrigerate – Place each turnover on a paper-lined cutting board. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to inflate turnovers. If you chill turnovers on a baking sheet, the base won’t cook as well since the tray takes longer to heat up.
7. Egg wash and prick – Place the turnovers on a big baking pan on the paper. Prick the surface three times with a little knife after brushing with whisked egg (makes them golden). Steam escape holes prevent seam filling leakage.
8. Bake turnovers until golden, 25 minutes at 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced). They’re done! Choose plain or cream-filled!

Freshly made apple turnovers
Serving simple apple turnovers (ideal for impatient individuals 🙋🏻‍♀️)
Without cream, apple turnovers are best served warm. For decoration, I prefer to sprinkle with icing/powdered sugar. For dunks, I love cream! Warm apple turnovers with delicately sweetened whipped cream are perfect.

Making apple turnovers with cream

To create cream-filled apple turnovers, snip the seams with a little knife after they cool. To avoid melting cream, open it and let it cool.

I suggest whipping the stabilised cream (see above for why) or beating conventional whipped cream until firm and pip-able when ready to assemble. Pipe it in!

Cream-filled apple turnovers

So there! It surprised me to write so much about the basic apple turnover. I posted this recipe today since it’s simple.

Naturally, I complicate matters by supplying the recipe twice. Which seems easy, but after I finish the post, I’m surprised by how much I wrote.

Honestly, this dish is quite easy! 😂 I hope you try. Do let me know what you think and whether you dip or fill with cream.