The Best Apple Dessert

My apple trees are completely covered with ripe fruit ready to pick. As I started pulling a few off I began thinking about how to best use them. When I was a small child my mother use to make a really simple dessert that I adored. She would peel and core an apple then roll it in cinnamon sugar, stuff it with sweetened butter, wrap it in a thin skin of pie pastry, and bake it. It had all the great characteristics we love about apple pies but was quicker to make.

Decorating the Apple Purses

It was only later in life that I learned this apple dessert was beloved by both the French and the Americans and went by several different names. In France, they are called ‘Bourdons aux Pommes’ (Bourdelots) and even apple purses. In the United States, they are commonly known as apple dumplings.

The good news is they are very easy to make and quick to make. All you need are apples, sugar, butter, and pie dough or puff pastry. You can make these with apples or even pears. If you want to make it a bit fancier, sprinkle the apples with a tablespoon of fine calvados.

Make your own caramel sauce or buy one like Toad Farm Traditional Goat’s Milk Caramel Sauce. I even saw a French Canadian variation that I want to try made with a maple syrup caramel.

Give this delicious apple dessert a try this Fall and let me know if this becomes your family’s favorite.

Watch my video recipe

Apple Purses, Bourdons, or Apple Dumplings

PREP: 20 minutes | COOK: 30 minutes | SERVES: 8

• 8 apples peeled and cored (watch my video on how to peel an apple like a pro)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 4 tablespoons of vanilla butter (see recipe below)

• 1 pie’s worth of pie dough (see recipe below), cut into 8 equal pieces

• 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of water

• 1 cup caramel sauce (optional)

1. Roll the apples in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon until well coated. Put half a tablespoon of butter into each apple where the core used to be.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

3. On a floured work surface with a floured pin, roll the dough out to 1/8th of an inch thick. Brush with egg wash. Lay your apple on one side and wrap it in the dough. Watch my video for how I do it. Rest the pastry for 30 minutes while the oven is preheating.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cooking time will vary depending upon the apples you use. I like to use apples like Fujis or Pink Lady’s.

Vanilla Butter

I make my vanilla butter with 8 ounces of softened unsalted butter mixed with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and the seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Pie Crust Dough

• 12 ounces all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed

• ice water, as needed

To make the dough, in a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. With the motor running, add just enough ice water through the feed tube so that the dough forms into a loose ball. Gather the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 1 full hour or overnight in the refrigerator.