Sweet Apple Dumplings-

9:24 PM

This monumental dessert called Apple Dumpling where sweet red apples are wrapped in a rich pastry ,baked and served with an even richer sauce. This recipe, originally from the Amish people of Pennsylvania, is definitely not diet food. The Amish are famous for their hard work. If you’ve been building barns or ploughing the fields all day, you won’t feel guilty returning home to these deliciously saucy, individually packaged apple pies.Amish food tends to be heavy in carbohydrates and fats. But such a diet is okay for physically active farmers.

An apple dumpling is a pastry filled with apple, cinnamon and occasionally raisins. Apples are peeled and cored, placed on a portion of dough, then filled with cinnamon, butter and sugar. Then the dough is folded over the apples and the dumplings are baked until tender.

Apple dumplings are a native food in the northeastern United States, around Pennsylvania. A very common recipe among the Pennsylvania Dutch, it is often eaten as a breakfast item, but they are also a very common dessert item after meals. It's also popular to eat them with ice cream or in milk.

The apples:

3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups cold butter
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoons lemon juice
12 sweet red apples

1/1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

The sauce:

½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons water

Sprinkle the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Combine the buttermilk, water and lemon juice, and stir it into the flour mixture to form a soft pastry. Knead the dough briefly, then set aside for a few minutes.

Peel the apples and keep in salt water to avoid oxidization.

Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll into round shape. Place the apple on it and wrap it with the dough so that it completely fits around the apple and seal the apple in the top. Repeat for all the apples.

Place a Parchment paper on a baking tray and place the apples on it. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and bake the apples for 30 to 40 minutes or till the outer coverings are lightly brown and the apples yield easily to a knife.

Combine butter, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over moderate heat until it becomes thick and saucy. Dust it with Powdered sugar and pour the sauce over the dumplings just before serving.

The recipes is inspired from 'Cooking with Kurma', Australian vegetarian guru, Kurma Dasa. Kurma is one of the world's leading proponents of pure & natural vegetarian cuisine.

Simple and made with the freshest ingredients, country cooking always satisfies a hungry family—and nothing says country cooking more than traditional Amish recipes do. Simple and made with the freshest ingredients, country cooking always satisfies a hungry family—and nothing says country cooking more than traditional Amish recipes do.

From the sweet aroma of freshly baked apples ,there is something for everyone when it comes to home-style cooking and Amish recipes.