Apple Turnovers

Apple Turnovers
Layers of flaky, buttery crust! Delish!

This recipe comes from my mother’s recipe tin. In my opinion, these are the best turnovers!. The recipes date back to the 1960’s and who knows how old this recipe is.   My mother had a beauty Salon in St. Louis, Missouri. These recipes were passed on to her from her customers. The recipes are representations of home cooking from many different countries. My mom’s customers were German, English, Dutch, Irish, Polish, African, Italian and Greek.

Every Friday night we had a feast in that Salon. These ladies had some of the most intricate hairdos. They really got decked out in those days. I was just a tween, but my love of food started in a Salon. I know that sounds crazy, but these ladies were proud about their dishes and loved to share them. Those Friday nights were the best times in my life. I am sure many of those wonderful ladies have passed away. I moved some 30 years ago and settled in New York. My heart and mind is filled with so much love for that simple time and that recipe tin means so much to me. It is all I have left from that amazing time in my life. I have a little bit of all those wonderful ladies in that tin. Well, this recipe is just as good as those memories and I will be making them all the time. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Apple Turnovers
Recipe: 8 Turnovers

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter (unsalted very cold)
1/2 cup ice water
3 large apples peeled or 4-5 small apples peeled (cut into small dice)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg plus 1 T. water
2T. Coarse raw sugar

Glaze
Water and 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
Mix with enough water to form a medium consistency glaze.

1. In a medium bowl with pastry blender, combine flour and salt. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with ice water. With fork, mix well. Shape dough into a ball; with lightly floured rolling pin on lightly floured surface, roll into an 18 inch by 8 inch rectangle. Cut 1/4 cup butter into thin slices. Starting at one of the 8 inch sides place butter slices over 2/3 of rectangle to within 1/2 inch of edges. Fold into envelope.
Roll back into 18 inch by 8 inch rectangle and place in fridge

2. Fold unbuttered 1/3 of pastry over middle 1/3; fold opposite end over to make an 8 inch by 6 inch rectangle. Roll dough into an l8inch by 8 inch rectangle (I slide my dough onto a plastic cutting board) and place in fridge for 20 minutes.

3. Take out from fridge, place onto floured board and slice remaining 1/4 cup butter; place slices on dough and fold as in steps 1 and 2; Chill another 20 minutes. Take out from fridge after 20 minutes and fold lengthwise and crosswise and chill for 1 hour.

4. Prepare filling: In a saucepan with spoon, mix diced apples, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook on low heat, stirring frequently until apples are tender, about 5 minutes. Chill.

5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut dough crosswise in half roll into a 12 inch square. Chill the other half of dough. Cut into four 6 inch squares. In cup, beat egg with 1 T. water. Spoon 1/8 of apples into center of square and fold over to make a triangle. Take a fork and press the sides all around each turnover to seal edges. Brush with egg mixture. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Continue the same procedure with remaining dough. Bake for about 20-22 minutes until golden. Cool slightly on rack and drizzle with glaze. Can serve warm or at room temperature.