Douillon aux PommesNormandy Pastry-Wrapped Apples

Make the pâte brisée

• 1 Mix 250 g flour with 1 pinch salt in a bowl.
• 2 Cut 125 g cold pastry butter into 1 cm cubes and add. Quickly rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles yellowish crumbs.
• 3 Sprinkle in 60 ml cold water and press together without kneading. Continue when no dry flour remains and the dough forms a single mass.

Rest the pastry

• 1 Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Fill the apples

• 1 Peel 4 apples and use a corer, or a small knife if unavailable, to remove the cores all the way from top to bottom.
• 2 Cream 20 g room-temperature filling butter with 40 g brown sugar and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon in a bowl; divide into 4 portions and pack into the apple cavities.
• 3 Meanwhile(While the pastry rests.)

Preheat the oven

• 1 Begin preheating the oven to 190°C.
• 2 Meanwhile(While it heats.) Divide the rested dough into 4 and roll each on a floured surface into a square about 20 cm on each side and 3 mm thick.

Wrap the apples in pastry

• 1 Place a filled apple in the center of each pastry square, bring all the corners up to its top and pinch the seams firmly closed.
• 2 Arrange on a parchment-lined baking tray. Beat 1 egg yolk and brush over the entire surface. If there are scraps of pastry, cut into leaf shapes and decorate the tops.

Bake the apple parcels

• 1 Bake in an oven at 190°C for 40–45 minutes.
• 2 They are done when all the pastry is deep golden brown and a skewer slides easily into the apple.
• 3 Cover with aluminum foil if they brown too quickly.

Cool slightly and serve

• 1 Leave on the tray to cool for about 10 minutes and serve warm.