OT Apple Dumplings

I posted this in my garden group. Then DH read it over and told me that so long as I had typed all that I might just as well post it to my quilt folk so they can tell me what they do with dumplings. He says that in the interest of science we should carefully research all permutations. I think he is just powerfully fond of apple dumplings (G) Science indeed! *snort*

Story comes first, recipe follows:

Every year my husband tells this story as we make the first batch of dumplings of the season.

"Once upon a time a very small boy was sitting in his grandmother's kitchen watching her make apple pies. You know he was a very small boy, because only very small children listen well enough to hear things that grown-ups don't. As he was watching and learning he heard a very small voice cry out, "Oh no! Oh woe is me!" he looked around and about and under the table and did not see anyone who might have cried out in such a tiny voice. As his grandmother put the first batch of pies in the oven, and sat down to prepare the apples for the next batch, he heard the voice again. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh woe is me!" He looked around and about and under the table, and gave his grandmother's lap-dog a hard look. Still he could not see anyone who could have cried out in such a very small voice. When his grandmother reached into the basket and filled her bowl with more apples to peel and slice, he heard the voice again, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh help! Oh help!" The boy looked all around again, and this time he found it. The very small voice was coming from the biggest, roundest, most beautiful apple he had ever seen. It was beautifully golden with a rosy blush, and still had a leaf attached to the stem, which he could see was just a-tremble with fear. The boy reached out and slipped the apple from the bowl, soothingly stroked the leaf, and then whispered to it "what is wrong?" "What is wrong!" the apple exclaimed. "Why there I was, minding my own business, basking in the sunlight while surrounded by my family and neighbors, when this old woman came along and knocked me right down out of my tree with a stick! Now she is chopping my whole family all to bits! What is wrong indeed!" The boy was nobody's fool and was very fond of apple pie, besides he did not like hearing his grandmother spoken of so disrespectfully. Still he did have some sympathy for the apple's plight. So he tried to explain, "The corn is ripe, and so are the last oats. The potatoes must be dug, and then the last of the hay must be brought in. The whole family and the neighbors and the hired man are working all day until the sun goes down to get all the work done before the cold comes. They are very very hungry when the day is over, and it is Grandmother's turn to make the pies." The beautiful apple screamed in terror! "Oh no! Oh no!" it shrieked, "I don't want to be chopped up and eaten in a pie! Hide me! Hide me quickly!" The very small boy was startled and looked about him for places to hide the apple. Finally he took some scraps of dough and wrapped the apple up in them. "There, now you will be safe and warm." he whispered to the apple as he set it beside the pile of dough scraps. Later that evening when the pies were served the very small boy's father found an oddity amongst the pie plates. "Why what on earth is this?" he puzzled while examining a round brown ball of pastry. "That is a special treat for my very best helper." said the grandmother. For she was also nobody's fool, and grandmothers are the only grown-ups in the world who listen so well as very small children and often see and hear the same things they do. And with that she put the beautiful apple hidden in dough into a bowl with sugar and cream and put it in front of the very small boy. He ate it up down to the last crumb and the last drop, and resolved to make it a practice to hide apples more often.

Apple Dumplings

Preheat oven to 375F Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish

For the pastry (standard shortcrust pastry may be substituted):

2 1/2 cups of sifted flour, minus 3 tablespoons 3 tablespoons of cornstarch 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, just warm enough to work a little salt (perhaps a quarter teaspoon) approximately a quarter cup of ice water

Sift the flour, salt, and the cornstarch together. Cut the butter into the flour mixture, until it is in pieces slightly smaller than popcorn kernels. Add water to make a workable dough, set aside covered in a cool place while the apples are prepped.

The Apples:

Peel (if desired) and core 6 apples. I prefer to use medium sized Northern Spy apples, but your favorite pie apple will work just as well. Set them aside in a bowl of cold water to which as been added a tablespoon of lemon juice or cider vinegar while you roll the dough.

The Dumplings:

For the filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/2 cup raisins ( I like to fry them in a tablespoon of butter for a few minutes before using them) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 cardamom capsule ground fine, or a pinch of ginger, as your taste and spice cupboard determines

combine spice, sugar, and nuts, then stir in raisins.

Roll out half the pastry into a rectangle six times as long as the apples are high. Square off and divide into thirds. Place an apple into the center of each section, fill the core space with filling mixture. Bring the corners together at the top center of each apple, dampen and pinch together, then dampen and pinch the edges together.

Repeat with the other half of the dough and the remaining apples and filling.

Put the apples into the greased baking dish and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the apples.

If you use large apples (such as your average grocery store granny smith), standard shortcrust should be used rather than the butter crust, as the longer cooking time required for large apples may result in over browning of a butter crust.

OPTIONAL: add a teaspoon of brandy to the top of each apple after it is filled.

Serve warm with milk, cream, or caramel sauce.

A decorative touch for company is to shape apple leaves out of scrap pastry, dampen the top of each quarter of the dumplings and attach the leaves before baking. Alternatively, bake the leaves on a separate sheet after painting them with egg yolk to which drop or two of green food coloring has been added, and the attach them to the baked dumplings with caramelized sugar. That is something I usually save for snobby company, or special occasions.

NightMist