Perfect when you want a little something sweet, but don’t want to share!
During her initial assessment, my client Gloria mentioned that she loved apple pie, but whenever she bought one, her husband kept a fork in the pan and took a bite or two or three whenever he walked by, leaving her nothing for her.
So, I did a little research and found a recipe for Individual Apple Pies that would not only satisfy Gloria’s apple pie fix, but allowed her to freeze (hide) individual portions to enjoy whenever she liked.
The following recipe is a tweaked version of the original, omitting pears and adding a bit of lemon juice.
Individual Apple Pies
Serves 8
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Juice of two lemons
8 large firm baking apples – Granny Smith, Gala, etc. Use all one kind or mix them up.
Two sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a slow simmer and cook for 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and let cool to warm.
Using 8 10-ounce ramekins or glass baking cups, Place 3 tablespoons caramel sauce in the bottom of each cup. Any extra caramel sauce can be set aside to serve with pies or over ice cream if you’re service ala mode.
Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Toss apples with lemon juice and arrange slices tightly in baking cups.
Cut puff pastry in circles slightly smaller than the tops of the baking cups. Prick pastry circles a few times with a fork. Place pastry circles so that they fit just inside the cups and cover tops of the apple slices.
Place filled cups on a baking sheet and bake at center of oven for about 50 minutes or a little longer until well browned. If you find that they brown quickly, tent with foil and continue cooking for 50 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Invert onto serving plates.
If freezing, cool then wrap tightly in foil and place in freezer proof zipper bag. When ready to serve, thaw in refrigerator overnight, bring to room temperature uncovered and then heal slightly in a 350 degree oven or microwave.
The idea of individual desserts is too exciting not to adapt to other fruits like pears, apples and berries, etc. Send me your favorite version and I might use it in a future post!
