Apple Puffs With Cinnamon Pastry Cream

Serves 8

These little puff pastry roasted apple and cream filled puffs are delicious and look great. Your guests will take a sliver of pumpkin pie to make room on their plates and in their stomachs for these. The components can be made in advance and easily assembled just before eating. My trick is to delegate others to do the dishes while you get the desserts ready. If you don’t have exactly a 2¾-inch cutter or glass, that’s OK — 2½ or 3 inches is fine. 2 tablespoons sugar

2 large egg yolks

1½ tablespoons cornstarch 1⁄ 8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup whole milk I box Pepperidge Farm or Du Four puff pastry, defrosted

1 large egg, lightly beaten 2 cups Roasted Apples

(see recipe below) ¼ cup heavy whipping

cream

Instructions: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and cinnamon.

Over medium heat, cook the milk in a pot until hot. Slowly whisk into the eggs to temper them.

Pour the mixture back into the pot. Over medium low heat, cook until the mixture is thick like mayonnaise, stirring constantly with a wooden or heat-resistant rubber spatula. If the mixture gets lumpy, whisk until smooth. Pour or strain into a clean bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. The pastry cream base can be made a day ahead.

Place the puff pastry on a work surface, and cut out 16 circles, using a drinking class or round cutter measuring 2¾ inches.

Place 8 of the circles on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut a 1¾-inch circle out of the center of each of the remaining 8 circles. (You won’t need the small circles and other scraps. You can sprinkle them with sugar, bake them and serve as a snack. Or, freeze them for another use.)

Lightly brush the uncut circles along the outside ¼-inch with the beaten egg, taking care not to let any drip down the sides. Place the rings on top of the circles. With the tines of a fork, prick the inside bottom of the circles.

If the puff pastry has gotten very soft, or if it is difficult to handle, place the sheet pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking. You can also form these a day in advance, and refrigerate until ready to bake.

When ready to bake (no earlier than the morning of serving), preheat the oven to 400°. Bake the puff circles about 5 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and prick the inside of the puffs with the tines of a fork to deflate them. Return them to the oven and bake about 5 minutes more, until golden brown. If the insides have puffed up again, prick them once more.

Cool to room temperature.

To assemble: Assemble the puffs just before serving.

If the Roasted Apples have been refrigerated, let them come to room temperature or warm them briefly in the microwave or a 350° oven.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Remove the pastry cream from the refrigerator and stir it to break it up a little. Fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream.

Place 2 tablespoons of pastry cream inside each puff. Pile ¼ cup of the apples on top.

Serve immediately.

Per serving: 424 calories, 5 g protein, 65 g carbohydrates, 18 g fat (5 g saturated), 86 mg cholesterol, 134 mg sodium, 6 g fiber.