Filled Apples

FILLED APPLES - a bit different - with NOUGAT (or Nutella)

Why not fill something good with something even better... and wrap it in the best thing that french baking cuisine ever came up with?!

The result: Apples filled with chocolate nougat (Nutella) wrapped in puff pastry

Ingredients:

1 puff pastry sheet (about 250gr - 1/2lbs, can be more)
4 apples (medium sized, I used...don't remember the name sorry
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
2 tsp cinnamon

Filling:

200g / 7 oz chocolate nougat (or Nutella, or any other kind of Hazelnut spread)
1 orange (only the zest) I ate the fruit while waiting for the apples to bake
2 tsp cinnamon

also:
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp cold water

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 360F

Mix the brown sugar with the vanilla sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl.

Peel the apples, rub them with a lemon/lemon juice (to prevent the oxidation), and slice off the top off the apple (keep the stem).

Remove the core with an 'apple core remover'. After that use a melon baler to enlarge the hole a little bit more (as much as you want) but be careful, leave the bottom intact.

Take the apple, and roll it around in the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture you prepared in a bowl.

Mix the nougat (or Nutella) with the cinnamon and the orange zest, and fill the apples with this mixture, (I used nougat for this one), by using a spoon for example.

Cut the puff pastry in 1,5 cm 1/2 inch wide stripes.

Take one stripe and starting at the bottom, wrap it around the apple, slightly overlapping the edges of the pastry. Join the stripes while you are wrapping it around the apple ( I needed 2.5 stripes to cover one apple)

Cut leaf shapes out of the remaining dough, use a sharp knife to make the 'leaf' like texture. Place them on the top of the apple and stick the stem back. - it is optional, but looks awesome -

Mix the egg yolk with the water and brush the pastry covered apple with it.

Place the apples into a baking pan, cover it with an aluminium foil - but leave some space between the apples and the foil, the pastry will rise a bit- and bake it for 25 minutes. Now remove the foil and bake it for another 20 minutes. ( - this way the apples turn soft and juice while the pastry stays golden brown and crispy)
If  you like chocolate-nougat or Nutella, you will LOVE this recipe - this is what I call a feel-good Fall treat