Apple Roses are a beautiful, elegant dessert that are so easy to make using store-bought puff pastry. This apple dessert is perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or just because.
Apple desserts are simply irresistible. Any time I whip up Apple Cake, Apple Pie, Apple Bars, Tarts, or Donuts, you can be sure they disappear quickly! These Apple Roses are no exception. They are downright delicious.
Thinly sliced apples are flavored with cinnamon, a must-use spice as far as apple desserts are concerned. The thin apple slices get curled up into strips of puff pastry to form beautiful roses. A dusting of icing sugar makes these almost to pretty to eat. Almost.
While I love making these apple roses in the Fall when apples are plentiful, since apples are available year round at grocery stores, this dessert makes frequent appearances throughout the year. I mean how cute would these be for a date night, anniversary dinner or Mother’s Day?
Why we love this recipe
- These apple roses are delicious! They are perfectly sweetened, apple-cinnamon perfection.
- They make an elegant dessert. The roses are so pretty and perfect for serving up on special occasions.
- The dish is easy to put together.
- You can prep this recipe in advance to make it easier to serve on your occasion.
Ingredients needed for Apple Roses
- Butter: To grease the muffin tin.
- Puff pastry: Store bought puff pastry cut into strips.
- Apples: You can use any baking apple you like. I used honey crisp but other varieties such as Mutsu, Granny Smith, Gala, Pink lady and Golden delicious work as well.
- Lemon juice: freshly squeezed. Just two tablespoons are needed.
- Fruit jam: Use any type of jam you like. Fig jam, strawberry jam, etc.
- Cinnamon: This warm spice is a must as far as I am concerned when making apple desserts. A sprinkle helps enhance the flavor and makes these roses reminiscent of a classic apple pie.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar is mixed with the cinnamon to make a cinnamon sugar. Icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar or powdered sugar) is used for dusting.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Apple Roses
- Prep. Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 6 cup muffin tin with cooking spray, butter or oil.
- Prepare the apple slices. Slice the apples in half and remove the core. Thinly slice the apples and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Add the lemon juice and enough water to cover the apples and microwave for 2 minutes or more, until apples are bendable. Reserve 1 tablespoon hot water for the next step and then drain.
- Prepare the jam and cinnamon sugar. Place the jam in a bowl and add 1 tablespoon hot water. Stir. In a separate bowl, mix the granulated sugar with the cinnamon.
- Slice the puff pastry into strips. Place the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut it into 6 strips, lengthwise. A pizza cutter makes this easy but a knife can be used as well.
- Make the roses. Spread jam onto each strip and arrange the apple slices along the top half of the strips, slightly overlapping the apples. Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon sugar and fold the bottom half of the puff pastry over the apples. Start at 1 end and roll the apple puff pastry strips to form the roses. Place them in a muffin tin.
- Bake. Bake for 45 minutes or until puff pastry is baked. Let them cool slightly before transferring onto a cooling rack. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve as is or with a drizzle of maple syrup if you’d like more sweetness.
Can you prepare these in advance?
These apple roses are best eaten on the day you bake them. As with all puff pastry desserts, the puff pastry is its flakiest on the day you bake it. That said, while I recommend you baking them the day you eat them, you can easily prep this dessert the night before so it is ready to bake on the day of your dinner party.
Simply follow the instructions and form the apple roses. Then cover the muffin tin with plastic food wrap and store it in the fridge. The next day (or later that same day), you can proceed to bake them.
Tips for making the best apple roses
- Thinly slice your apples. Ideally, you want apple slices that are about 1/8″ thick. This not only makes them more tender after the roses are baked, but it also makes them more pliable so that you can easily roll the puff pastry roses without the apples snapping or shifting out of place.
- Bake your apple roses the day you wish to serve them to guests. As mentioned earlier, ff you have worked with puff pastry before, you know how the puff pastry can lose its flakiness as time goes on. This is why it is best to bake them the day you serve them. As mentioned in the section above, you can still easily prepare them a day ahead though (just don’t bake them.)
- Double your recipe for larger crowds. This recipe makes 6 roses but can easily be doubled or tripled for larger crowds.
- Switch things up to suit your tastes. I made these apple roses with jam but you can easily swap in some nutella instead. Drizzling some caramel over these when serving is also a delicious option.
Storing leftovers and reheating
While these are best eaten the day they are made, if you have leftovers, you can store them for a couple of days. Place the cooled apple roses in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
To reheat them, place the apple roses on a baking tray and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 350F until warmed through.
I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as we do!
-Cathy
You may also like these other apple desserts:
Apple Pie Bars
Classic Apple Pie
Apple Ginger Galette
Puff Pastry Apple Tarts
Baked Apple Donuts
Apple Cake (Greek Milopita)
Apple Roses with Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter to grease the muffin tin
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
- 2 apples
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fruit jam of choice (e.g. apricot, strawberry, fig, etc)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 6 cup muffin tin with cooking spray, butter or oil.
- Slice the apples in half and remove the core. Thinly slice the apples and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Add the lemon juice and enough water to cover the apples and microwave for 2 minutes or more, until apples are bendable. Reserve 1 tablespoon hot water for the next step and then drain.
- Place the jam in a bowl and add 1 tablespoon hot water. Stir. In a separate bowl, mix the granulated sugar with the cinnamon.
- Place the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut it into 6 strips, lengthwise. A pizza cutter makes this easy but a knife can be used as well.
- Spread jam onto each strip and arrange the apple slices along the top half of the strips, slightly overlapping the apples. Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon sugar and fold the bottom half of the puff pastry over the apples.
- Start at 1 end and roll the apple puff pastry strips to form the roses. Place them in a muffin tin.
- Bake the apple roses for 45 minutes or until the puff pastry is baked. Let them cool slightly before transferring onto a cooling rack. Sprinkle the apple roses with icing sugar.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.