Ružice od jabuka

Cvijeće je jedno od primarnih simbola Beltanea kao sabata usred proljeća. Oltar i krug se obično krase cvijećem, pa zašto ne i kuhinju malo ukrasiti njime?

Potrebno je:

• 2 pakiranja (cca. 550 g) svježeg lisnatog tijesta (odmrznutog, po mogućnosti već u obliku tankog lista)
• 6 Idared jabuka (slatko-kisele)
• 1 limun
• 4 jušne žlice šećera
• 1 jušna žlica cimeta
• 1 jaje
• malo brašna

Priprema:

1. Zagrijte pećnicu na 200°C.
2. Odstranite srž jabuka (dakle peteljku i sjemenke) nožem, ili posebnom spravicom koja služi ovome. 
3. Izrežite jabuke na pola po dužini (odakle je bila peteljka pa do dna) i režite polovice na tanke ploške. 
4. Zavrijte vodu i, kad je uzavrila, iscijedite u nju limun i ubacite jabuke. Poklopite i ostavite da se jabuke namakaju nekoliko minuta.
5. Izvadite jabuke kad primijetite da su omekšale i ostavite ih da se cijede na papirnatim ubrusima.
6. Pobrašnite radnu podlogu i izvadite na nju lisnato tijesto (ako već nije tanko razvaljano, razvaljajte ga). Izrežite tijesto (po širini) na trake širine cca. 4 cm.
7. Razmutite jaje i izmiješajte u jednoj posudici šećer i cimet.
8. Svaku traku premažite jajem i pospite šećerom i cimetom.
9. Slažite jabuke na trake tijesta tako da gornje polovice ploški (s korom) vire van tijesta i da se rubovi ploški poklapaju.
10. Ruže formirajte na sljedeći način:
1. Preklopite donju polovicu svake trake preko jabuka (i dalje ca. polovica jabuke treba viriti van tijesta).
2. Motajte tijesto u smotuljak s jednog kraja na drugi.
3. "Uštipnite" kraj lisnate trake i bilo koji drugi komad lisnatog tijesta kako bi se spojili.
11. Posložite ružice na lim za pečenje (kojeg ste prethodno prekrili papirom za pečenje), ili u kalup za muffine (kojeg ste prethodno nauljili i pobrašnili).
12. Pospite ružice mješavinom šećera i cimeta.
13. Ostavite ružice u frižideru 15 minuta da se sve slegne.
14. Pecite na 200°C 15-20 minuta.

Apple Roses

Flowers are one of the primary symbols of Beltane as a Sabbat that marks the midpoint of spring. The altar and sacred circle are usually decorated with flowers, so why not decorate your kitchen with them too?

You Will Need:

• 2 packs (ca. 550 g) fresh puff pastry dough (unfrozen and preferably already in the form of thin sheets)
• 6 Idared apples (so tart apples basically)
• 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• some flour

How To Prepare:

1. Heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Remove the apple cores (so the stem and the seeds) using a knife, or a special tool called an apple corer.
3. Cut the apples lengthwise (so from the stem downwards) and then cut these halves into thin slices.
4. Boil a pot of water and, once it has come to a boil, squeeze in the lemon and throw in the apples. Cover the pot and let the apples soak for a few minutes.
5. Take out the apples when you notice they have become soft and flexible (they shouldn't be mushy). Leave them out to dry on some paper towels.
6. Flour your working surface and place your puff pastry dough on it (if you didn't buy it in the form of thin sheets, then roll our the dough yourself). Cut the dough crosswise into strips about 4 cm wide.
7. Whisk the egg slightly and, in a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar.
8. Daub each strip of dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
9. Place the apple slices on the strips so that the upper halves of the slices (the ones with the skin still on) stick out from the dough and so that the apple slices slightly overlap.
10. Make the roses in these three simple steps:
1. Fold the lower halves of the dough strips over the apples (about a half of the apple slices should still be sticking out from the dough).
2. Roll the pastry dough into a...well...roll.
3. Pinch the ending of the pastry dough with any other part of the dough to connect them.
11.  Place the roses on a baking pan (which your previously covered with baking paper) or in a muffin tin (which you previously greased up and floured slightly).
12. Sprinkle the roses with cinnamon and sugar.
13. Leave them in the refrigerator to settle about 15 minutes.
14. Bake at 200°C approximately 15-20 minutes.

Škartoci od jabuka

Ovi maleni zalogaji (koje sam od milja nazvala "škartoci" tj. papirnate vrećice kako se kaže u Dalmaciji) od jabuka su kombinacija mnoštva simbola plodnosti i tradicionalnih Beltaneskih namirnica - jabuka, svježeg sira, badema, brusnica i meda. Pomalo ih je zeznuto raditi, ali je konačni proizvod estetski jako dojmljiv i za lizati prste!

Potrebno je:

• 1 pakiranje integralnih kora za savijače (najbolje su po mome iz Lidla)
• 3 slatko-kisele jabuke
• 500 g svježeg sira
• 2 žlice meda
• 1 pak vanilinog šećera
• cimet (po želji)
• ca. 50 g maslaca (za mazanje kora)
• šaka sušenih brusnica
• 2 šake badema
• konopac za vezivanje kora

Priprema:

1. Zagrijte pećnicu na 200°C.
2. Ogulite i naribajte jabuke.
3. Iscijedite tekućinu iz jabuka tako da ih stavite u cjediljku i žlicom pritišćete dok većina tekućine ne izađe.
4. Bademe stavite na lim za pečenje i zapecite 5 minuta. Sitno ih isjeckajte/istucite maljem za meso na krupnije komade (ako ih tučete maljem, predlažem da ih prvo zamotate u prozirnu foliju). Dodajte komadiće badema u jabuke.
5. Izmiješajte jabuke, bademe, svježi sir, vanilin šećer, med, cimet i brusnice.
6. Svaki list kore izrežite na 6 približno jednakih pravokutnika. Od pakiranja od 9 listova (koliko ih obično bude) biste dakle trebali dobiti 54 pravokutnika (odnosno, u konačnici biste trebali od ovoliko kora dobiti 27 škartoca od jabuka).
7. Otopite maslac.
8. Od kora pravite vrećice tj. škartoce na sljedeći način:
1. Jedan pravokutnik postavite na radnu površinu i premažite otopljenim maslacem.
2. Drugi pravokutnik dijagonalno položite preko prvog (trebali biste dobiti 2 prekrižena pravokutnika).
3. I drugi pravokutnik samo po sredini namažite s malo otopljenog masla.
9. U sredinu kore stavite jednu čajnu žličicu punjenja.
10. Skupite rubove kora u vrhu i zavežite konopcem.
11. Ponovite korake 8-10 dok vam ne nestane kora.
12. Prekrijte lim za pečenje papirom za pečenje i posložite škartoce/vrećice od jabuka na njega.
13. Pecite na 200°C cca. 10-15 minuta.

Napomene: Kad skupljate kore oko punjenja, pokušajte skupiti iz jednog puta. Što više dirate kore, to će više pucati. Ukratko, kore su vrlo osjetljive pa imajte ovo na umu tijekom cijele pripreme i pečenja. Zbog ovog recept i je tako zeznut.

Apple Pouches

These bite-sized treats (which I decided to call pouches) are made of a combination of fertility symbols and traditional Beltane foods - apples, cottage cheese, almonds, dried cranberries and honey. It is slightly tricky to make them, but the final product is aesthetically impressive and finger-lickingly good!

You Will Need:

• 1 pack of integral strudel dough (400 g, you get it in the form of thin sheets, I had 9 sheets in the package)
• 3 tart apples (e.g. Idared)
• 500 g cottage cheese
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• cinnamon (to taste)
• ca. 50 g butter (for daubing the dough)
• handful dried cranberries
• 2 handfuls almonds
• thin rope for tying the pouches

How To Prepare:

1. Heat up the oven to 200°C.
2. Peal and grate the apples.
3. Press out the excess liquid from the apples by putting them in a strainer/colander and pressing on them with a spoon until most of the liquid is gone.
4. Put the almonds in a baking pan and bake for 5 minutes. Chop them up into smaller pieces/beat them with a meat cleaver (if you decide to do the latter, then wrap them up in cling film beforehand). Add the almonds to the apples.
5. Mix the apples, almonds, cottage cheese, vanilla sugar, honey, cinnamon and cranberries.
6. Cut up each piece of the strudel dough into 6 approximately same-sized rectangles. So a package containing 9 strudel sheets (which is the usual amount) should yield about 54 rectangles (that is to say, you should finally be left with 27 pouches from this number of rectangles).
7. Melt the butter.
8. Make the pouches from the strudel sheets as follows:
1. Place one rectangle on your working area and daub with butter.
2. Place a second rectangle diagonally over the first one (you should now have 2 crossed rectangles).
3. Daub the the middle of the second rectangle with butter.
9. Place one teaspoon of the apple-cheese filling in the middle of the rectangles.
10. Gather the edges of the pastry sheets above the filling and tie off with a piece of rope.
11. Repeat steps 8-10 until you run out of strudel sheets.
12. Place baking paper on your baking pan and transfer the apple pouches onto it.
13. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes at 200°C.

Notes: When gathering the sheets above the filling, try to do this in one go. The more you fiddle with the strudel sheets, the likelier it is that they will break. Basically, they are very fragile so keep this in mind when handling them throughout the entire baking process. This is what makes this recipe tricky.