First of all, I must tell you that I usually cook by the seat of my pants.
For me, cooking is an act of creativity. Every dish I make is completely one-of -a-kind, just like our heim-made hats and all the other lovely things we make. Look to this recipe as a simply a gentle guide. Get creative with it! Stretch it, squeeze it, and make it your own!
And please oh please post your discoveries, stories, and photos on our blog! We’d love to see.
I of course would love to share photos with you of the Apple Dumplings I made for my family, but we could help eating every last dumpling just as soon as they came out of the oven, so you see, there was no time to even think of photos! Secretly, I think that’s good though. This way, now you can make your own creation without ever thinking that it must look similar to mine.
These dumplings are easy to make and I guarantee they will impress! (One secret ingredient is home grown apples, but don’t use them right off the tree. Let them cure for 5-7 days before you use them. The other secret is the SPICED rum!)
Have fun!
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Apple Dumplings with Spiced Rum Sauce & Home Grown Apple
Directions
Dough: make your favorite pie crust recipe
Sauce: 1 3/4 cup fresh apple cider (or whatever you can find) 1/2 cup dark rum (I used spiced-yum!) 1/2 cup light brown sugar (or try dark)
Apple stuffing: 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1/2 t cinnamon (I like to give it an extra shot) 6 small, firm apples, about 3″ high (I used Cortland, but there are oodles of other baking varieties out there) You may need more stuffing than this, depending on the size of your apples and the core hole. Also, consider adding fresh cranberries, nuts, chunks of carmel, or something else that would complement the apple. Get creative!
Make the pie crust dough and put in the frig while you are preparing the apples.
Simmer sauce ingredients for about 5 minutes. Then let sit.
Peel and core the apples
Roll out pie crust. I roll out a circle like I was making a big pie. Cut it into 4 pieces.
Put an apple in the middle of one, fill the cored hole with stuffing, pull the dough up around the apple in any creative way you want. Then seal the dough.
Put the dumplings in a baking dish and pour the sauce over the top. Bake at 425 for 10 min., then 350 for about 30 min. (give or take). If they are golden brown and a knife goes easily into the apples they are done. I basted them a few times with the sauce while baking to spread the love. (The sauce will thicken as it bakes.)
I like to serve them warm with cinnamon ice cream, but again, do your thing. Whipped cream, plain cream, ice milk, hot carmel sauce, or just plain work, too.
Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments!
