Apple Turnovers

For the reverse puff pastry (make the day before): Organise all the necessary ingredients.

For the dough: Place the flour in the shape of a fountain in the stand mixer recipient. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can totally make puff pastry from scratch. Arrange the flour in the shape of a fountain on your workbench. Add the salt...

... and cold water.

Using the dough hook, start kneading at low speed to incorporate the flour, then increase the speed...

... until a ball forms. If you are not using a mixer, gather the flour with your fingers by drawing it into the water... ... until all the flour is incorporated and you obtain a ball.

Remove the dough from the bowl...

... and wrap with cling film.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can prepare the dough the day before and store in the fridge overnight.

For the butter: In a bowl, shape the flour into a well. Cut the extra-dry butter into cubes and place in the centre.

With your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour...

... until homogeneous. Shape the butter into a rectangle, with a thickness of 1 cm.

Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the turns: Place the butter on a floured surface.

Roll out lengthwise with a rolling pin.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, to the same width and half the length of the butter strip. Place the dough rectangle in the centre of the butter strip.

Fold the top part over the dough...

... then the bottom part. The dough should be wrapped with butter.

Roll out lengthwise, to a thickness of 1 cm.

For the first double turn: Fold the top quarter of the dough over.

Remove the flour excess with a flour brush or a pastry brush. This is really important, as we don't want to add any extra flour to the dough.

Fold the bottom quarter of the dough over.

The ends should not meet in the centre. There should be a gap of approximately 2 cm.

Fold the dough in half from the gap in the centre.

This operation is called a double turn (which equals two single turns). This folding method is also called "portefeuille" ("wallet turn").

Wrap the dough block in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Place the dough on a floured surface, with the folds to the side (see photo).

For the second double turn: Roll out lengthwise, to a thickness of 1 cm. Of course, you can use a manual laminator for this recipe.

Fold the top quarter of the dough over.

Fold the bottom quarter of the dough over.

The ends should not meet in the centre. There should be a gap of approximately 2 cm.

Fold the dough in half from the gap in the centre. The second double turn is now complete. Inside-out puff pastry requires two double turns and one single turn.

Wrap the dough block in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the single turn: Place the dough on a floured surface, with the folds to the side (as shown in the photo).

Roll out lengthwise, to a thickness of 1 cm.

Fold the top third of the dough over...

... then fold the bottom third over. There should be three layers of pastry. Wrap the dough block in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

The reverse puff pastry is now finished. The longer you store it in the fridge, the better the results. I strongly recommend making this pastry the day before.

For the apple compote: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Peel the apples with a peeler.

Using an apple corer or a knife, remove the core.

Repeat with all the apples.

Cut the apples into small cubes...

... and place them in a saucepan, along with the diced butter.

Add a dash of liquid vanilla extract...

... and the castor sugar.

Cook over medium heat and stir regularly...

... until the apples turn into a compote. This should take between 25 and 30 minutes.

The compote is ready when the apples are easy to crush.

Transfer the compote into a bowl and leave to cool.

Assembling the apple turnovers: Roll out the reverse puff pastry. The pastry should be just out of the fridge.

Cut the pastry into oval shapes with a turnover pastry cutter.

Using a pastry brush, apply egg wash (beaten egg yolk mixed with one tablespoon of water) over the edge of the pastry. Apply a thin layer to avoid any excess.

Place some apple compote in the centre of the oval pastry.

Fold in half and press firmly the edges together in order to seal the pastry.

Arrange the apple turnovers over a baking sheet lined with a Silpat silicone mat.

Glaze the surface with egg wash...

... and repeat with all the turnovers.

Score the surface of the pastry with a knife.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (gas 4) for 30 minutes.

Check the underside of the turnovers to make sure they are cooked all the way through...

... and remove from the oven.

Apply a thin layer of sugar cane syrup on the surface of the apple turnovers.

Return to the hot oven for 1 minute.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool.