Apple Hearts

I had two aging Pink Lady apples in my fruit bowl for what seemed like months. They weren't to the shriveled stage - Pink Ladies are stayers - but that wasn't far behind so it was time to use them to make an apple tart.

The recipe I used before, however, called for five or six apples, not just two. Hmmm. Then, I read on the DuFour frozen pastry package that any leftover pastry could be used for other things, so I decided to try making as many tartlets as I had apples.

Using some of my sweet pomegranate syrup with a little tart lemon juice added (next time, I might try bathing them in maple syrup and lemon juice if I have run out of the pomegranate), I sliced the apples thinly and poured the syrup/lemon juice over them, mixing them up and letting them stand together while I rolled out the pastry. Because My Beloved was returning that day from a business trip, I used a cookie cutter to make the heart shapes to tickle his fancy.

Once the hearts were placed on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, I laid four overlapping apple slices on each, sprinkled them with a light dusting of allspice and just a tad of coarse vanilla sugar before sliding them into a 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. The pastry puffed up proudly and the apples relaxed like fruity odalisques onto the pastry pillows, turning just lightly brown at the tips while the rich scents of vanilla and allspice filled the kitchen.

The result was crispy on the bottoms and softly chewy on the tops, very apple-y and not very sweet, thanks to the extra lemon juice in the syrup. I like the allspice as a change from the more familiar cinnamon and the tiny pinch of vanilla sugar was just right.

I started out with the idea of making an Apple Tart, but these Apple Hearts are even better.