Apple Dumplings. Nothing speaks more about Home Sweet Home I think than a warm apple dumpling. Fresh from the oven and served warm with cream or ice cream, you really can't get a tastier dessert!

I would take one of these over a piece of apple pie or a candy apple any day of the week. They are actually very quick and simple to make as well, requiring very little effort.

We used to get an apple in our lunch every single day when I was growing up. My mother subscribed to the old axiom that "An apple a day, keeps the Doctor away." It was considered a very healthy snack or treat.

I confess I am not overly fond of raw or fresh apples. Its a texture thing with my teeth. Eating the skin is just like scraping my fingernails over a chalk board. If you are very young you probably won't understand what I mean by that. You probably have never seen a chalk board.

Fingers scratching across a chalk board has to be about the worst sound on earth. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.

Not all apples are create equally. There are apples which are really good for eating out of hand, or dessert apples as they are called over here. Some good examples of those would be Fuji Gala or Honey Crisp. You can also eat Granny Smith's if you are fond of apples that are a bit more on the tart side.

When making apple dumplings, the best apple is a tart variety that stands up to baking, like a Granny Smith. Granny Smith apples won't get mushy in the baking process.

They will bake up nicely underneath the flaky layers of pastry dough. Golden Delicious and Idared apples are also great to try when making dumplings. You want an apple that will hold its shape, and not fall apart.

A short crust type of pastry works best in this recipe. I favour my Butter Lard pastry. It makes just the right amount for this recipe and works very well for either savoury or sweet bakes.

It has a really beautiful texture.

Butter Lard Pastry

Yield: makes 2 9-inch crusts

Author: Marie Rayner

This is a beautiful pastry. Flaky just right. You can add a touch of sugar to it if you are making a fruit pie.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter (76g)
1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water

Instructions

Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas. Add ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry comes together. Form in to a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each into a round flat disc. Warp in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

notes:

If using for a sweet pie, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar.

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You can also use a good quality ready-made pastry. I have my favourites. You need enough for a two crust pie to make six dumplings.

As far as the apples go, you only need to peel and core them. I have an apple corer which does a fabulous job. I don't know how I ever got along without one!

The peeled and cored apples get rolled in some lemon juice before rolling the in cinnamon sugar. The lemon juice helps to preserve their colour and the cinnamon sugar gives them flavour!

They also get stuffed with a mixture of brown sugar and butter for even more flavour.

You place the coated apples onto squares of the pastry and stuff them with the brown sugar and butter. I sometimes will cut the squares out with a fluted cutter for added interest. It makes them prettier.

The four corners are them brought up to cover the apples in their entirety. Make sure you crimp the edges tightly together to seal them completely.

I like to decorate them a bit by making some leaves with some pastry if I can and I stick a clove in the centre for a stem. It makes for a really pretty look. You don't have to do that, but it does really dress them up.

Once you have them ready just pop them into a baking dish and bake them for half an hour. While they are baking you make a syrup. It is a very simple syrup of water, butter, sugar, vanilla and some spices.

At the end of half an hour you pour this syrup around them and continue to bake them. They will bake in this to perfection in about half an hour. Ready to serve warm with your choice of cream, ice cream or custard sauce.

Bake these for your family and be prepared for plenty of applause! These really are the best!