Baked Apple Pouches

By dinachapman

Wolfgang Puck

Pick a firm, crisp apple variety that you’d use in a pie, one that holds its shape well during cooking. Some of my favorites are Golden Delicious, Northern Spy, Pippin, and Rhode Island Greening, though I especially like tart-sweet, juicy Granny Smiths. You can vary the filling from my recipe by using dried cherries or dried cranberries in place of the raisins; adding some chopped toasted walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts; including a tiny pinch of grated nutmeg; or, if you like, replacing the lemon juice with a splash of rum or brandy.

Then, just follow my simple instructions for shaping the pouches, pop them into the oven, and dessert is ready a quarter-hour later. Be sure to add a scoop of good vanilla ice cream so you can enjoy the pouches just like you would a great pie, a la mode!

Ingredients

• 1/2 C. unsalted butter
• 1 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1/4 C. granulated sugar
• 1/4 C. golden raisins
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 package large, square egg roll skins
• 1/4 C. melted butter
• Confectioners' sugar
• 1 to 2 pints good quality vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut kitchen string into 8 pieces, each about 8 inches long.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the butter and melt it. Carefully pour all but about 3 Tbs. of the butter into a heatproof bowl and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat and add the apples, sugar, raisins, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Place an egg roll skin on a flat surface with one of its corners facing you so it looks like a diamond. Lay another egg roll skin centered on top of the first with one edge facing you, to create a star shape with the two skins. Place 1/4 C. of the filling in the center of the wrappers and gather the egg roll skins up around the filling to create a pouch. Tie the pouch closed with a piece of the kitchen string and carefully transfer the pouch to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients. Brush the pouches with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the apple pouches in the preheated oven until their wrappers are golden brown and crispy, 10-15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and, with a spatula, carefully transfer to individual dessert plates. With kitchen scissors, carefully snip and remove the string.

To serve, put some confectioners’ sugar in a fine-meshed sieve and tap over each apple pouch to dust it. Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside and serve.