Iced Apple Stack

We’re busy getting ready for Thanksgiving weekend around here. Fortunately we don’t have too much cooking to do as the big day’s festivities will be at my aunt’s house, but we do have a lot of things going on this weekend. So we’ll keep this short and sweet. We made this dessert a few weeks back for a friend’s fondue party. It’s a kind of apple pastry which we’re calling our Iced Apple Stack. It makes use of the Ice Syrup we ordered over the summer. Again, if you don’t have ice syrup, maple syrup will work just fine.

We started the recipe by boiling some water and sugar. 

We boiled it, swirling the pan every so often, until the syrup turns a dark amber color.

Next we removed it from the heat and incorporated a bit of the ice syrup into the saucepan. Then we poured it into a springform pan and swirl to coat.

We left the pan aside and then mixed together some brown sugar and cinnamon. I found using my hands worked best.

It was then time for the apples. We cored them and sliced them very thinly, using a mixture of McIntosh and Granny Smith apples.

To prevent the apple slices from browning until we were ready to use them we tossed them in a bath of cold water and lemon juice.

Next we placed the first layer of apples in a circle into the springform pan and then sprinkled it with the cinnamon and brown sugar. We also added another teaspoon of the ice syrup.

We followed this with another layer of apples and the cinnamon/sugar, but this time we omitted the ice syrup. Then we rolled out half a sheet of puff pastry and placed that over the apples in the springform.

Again we layered more apples, cinnamon/sugar and ice syrup over the puff pastry.

After one more layer of apples, cinnamon/sugar and no ice syrup. We added the other half of the rolled out puff pastry, cut away the overhanging pastry and topped it with slices of butter.

We then covered both the top and bottom of the springform pan to catch the drippings, and placed the apple dish into a roasting pan. We then poured boiling water into the roaster until it came halfway up the sides of the springform.

We baked the apple stack for an hour and a half at 325F. Once done, we removed it from the oven, took off the top foil and let it rest for a bit. Then we released the sides of the pan, placed a plate over the top and flipped our pastry so that the bottom became the top.

The result was this beautiful red and green apple stack dripping with sweet cinnamon and sugar syrup. It certainly looked impressive.

The dessert seemed to go over well at the party. Everyone said they enjoyed it. Mike said it was a 3 spoon dessert.

I, however, was a little disappointed in it. I think it has all the makings of a great dessert, but the apple peels threw me. I think I might have enjoyed it more had we peeled the apples; although then we would lose the beautiful red and green look of the dish.

Mike agreed with me on that point – the peels did take away from the overall greatness. I took the leftovers to my parents’ house the next day and they said the same thing. The flavors were wonderful…the peels not so much.

So if we make this again, I think we’ll sacrifice beauty for flavor. As for the kids, they didn’t even want to try it. They’re not big fans of unpeeled apples. 😉 Maybe next time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating this week! We’ll post the winners of our drawing tomorrow evening. If you want in the giveaway, make sure to drop by and leave a comment on that post before noon. Cheers!

Print this recipe: Iced Apple Pastry

35 thoughts on “Iced Apple Stack”

  5. spicegirlfla says:
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    I love that this is made in a springform pan and released for a pretty presentation. I wish I had some of that ice syrup tho!! Enjoy your day Kristy, you deserve to be treated to dinner every now and then! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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  7. A_Boleyn says:
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    The apple stack was a very interesting idea though I don’t know that all the elements worked together for me. I think you lose the impact of puff pastry if you bake it/steam it enclosed in the springform pan and I still don’t understand the purpose of the bottom layer of syrup.

    I’m sure it tasted very good in spite of the apple peels. 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving from Canada.

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    • Kristy says:
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      Yeah – the pastry could definitely be left out. We wanted to add something with a little floury/buttery crust in this, but really it was lost in the final result. The bottom layer of syrup though was a must. It gave the top of the stack a beautiful syrup texture and caused it to ooze down the sides of the pastry. So good. 🙂 But the peels…they’ve got to go next time.

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  8. Charles says:
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    Ooh, it reminds me a little of a tarte tatin, and it looks gooooood – stack is definitely a great name. Look at all those layers! I know EXACTLY what you mean about the peel. My wife has made some wonderful crumbles and stuff before with apple and my God – the peel gets on my nerves after a while, but as you said – once you take that out of the equation then you have a whole load of apples which risk mushing together and no beautiful colours.

    I can well imagine this being a 3 spoon dessert! – I loved the first stage especially… wow!

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  9. Just A Smidgen says:
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    I’m with Kelly, where I can I leave the peels on. They’re pretty, nutritious and, ok, who am I kidding here, I’m just lazy and it’s a lot faster to just not peel:) My friend bought herself one of those crank apple peelers and says it’s awesome. Maybe I should ask Santa for one of those. Anyway, peel, no peel, I think it was the most unique dessert I’ve seen in a while and the syrup took it over the top for me. I wish I could have just a little taste…

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  11. Kay aka Babygirl says:
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    Even without the red or green look for this dessert.. I think it has the makings to be a great version of the classic apple pie. It looks amazing. I really think you should try it again.. but of course I love all your stuff girl lol. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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  12. Kelly says:
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    Kristy, I just love this recipe. And, you know…, if it were me judging, I would give you *full* marks for keeping the apple peels on – I really enjoy food as is and view it as the way we were intended to eat them (we’re just not used to being that close to nature ;0). Besides, the peel is full of nutrients! not just good looks 🙂 – I would have been licking my lips with joy at the party!! Love that you incorporated the ice syrup… so creative.

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  13. ChgoJohn says:
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    I thought this was a wonderful dessert until you mentioned the peels. Yeah, I wouldn’t have liked them either and, pretty or not, they would have to go. I hope you, ChefDad, and the world’s cutest Sous Chefs have a great Thanksgiving!

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  14. Lisa says:
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    This is so pretty, I know what you mean abot leaving the apple skins on baked desserts. My kids would have said the samething as your kids. It looks like a pretty healthy dessert, I bet there’s got to be a good amount of fiber with all the apples, esp. w/ skins on! Have a happy healthy Thanksgiving! 🙂

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  17. Stefanie says:
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    That ice syrup is so interesting sounding! The dessert does look beautiful, and I think it would still look great without the apple peels. Apple rings are pretty on their own 🙂

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