Steemit Iron Chef 2017 #07: Vegan Cinnamon Apple Roses With Marzipan Leaves And Ginger Apple Tea

Good morning (or evening) fellow steemians. What a crazy busy week it has been, luckily I just made it in time to enter this week's Steemit Iron Chef (SIC).

Coming back home after 3 weeks of holiday is fun but so much work to catch up with. My hubby is working hard on his new blockchain powered community building platform (peerity.io) and upcoming crowdfund. They actually have the first version ready and I was able to get a sneak peak. Exciting stuff and we received so much good feedback and interest in the project at the Barcelona IoT and blockchain expo earlier this month.

I am working hard on my new website and 8-week healthy lifestyle transformation program while planning our move to the coast.

Going down there in a week to look and rent a house and then move all our stuff, my hubby and cat down there... Busy but exciting times... but let's get back the SIC challenge.

Made these yummy apple roses the other day for tea time and they came out great. I must admit this is not the first time I make the apple roses. I once made them (minus the marzipan and apple tea) for my mom because she loves flowers, especially roses. So she was my inspiration for this week apple theme....

Let's get started!

Thanks @progressivechef for another amazing theme and putting your heart into this amazing challenge! Keep up the good foodie work. Your efforts are much appreciated!

Ingredients

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For the roses (makes 6 roses)

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1 sheet puff pastry (or homemade vegan version which I will share in the near future)
2 organic red apples
1 lime or half a lemon, juice only
3 tbsp of apricot jam or preserve
1 tbsp water
Cinnamon powder, as much as you like
A little flour to sprinkle the counter
Powdered sugar for decorating (also called confectioner's' sugar or icing sugar)

FYI: Since Cambodia has almost no convenient foods let stand vegan puff pastry, I recently made my own and had some left in the freezer. Making puff pastry has to be done on ice and quick and it was the first try out, so I wasn't able to get some pictures of it 'cause I made a real mess. Now that I have my new camera I will make it again and ask my loving hubby to take some pics while I'm getting my hands dirty! Or maybe I'll turn it into a little movie.... all is possible.

For the colored marzipan

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Green food coloring
1 cup almond powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2-1 lime, juice only
Almond extract to taste
Pinch of salt
Water if needed
FYI: makes too much, so reduce amounts if you don’t like marzipan. I love it! I only colored half of the marzipan, though. The chocolate sauce for decoration is a mix of raw cacao powder and extra virgin coconut oil.

Directions

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Apple roses

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1. Cut a piece off your block of puff pastry and thaw. This should take 20-30 minutes. If using store-bought puff pastry sheets follow the instruction on the package.
2. Cut the apples in half, remove the core, and cut the apples into thin slices. Leave the peel so it will give the red color to your roses. Place the sliced apples in the pot with water and lemon or lime juice so they are just covered. Bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes until they are just soft, not cooked. You could use a microwave too but we don't use a microwave at our home.
3. Lightly flour your counter and place the piece of puff pastry in the middle. Using a rolling pin (or glass water bottle, if you don't have a rolling pin) to stretch the dough out, trying to keep it in a rectangular shape. Cut the dough into 6 strips.
4. In a bowl, place three tablespoons of apricot preserve or jam (I used jam) with one to two tablespoons of water. Spread the mixture on the dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 190C or 375F. Drain the apples.
6. Place the apple slices on the dough (see pics). Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.
7. Fold up the bottom part of the dough to cover the apple slices half.
8. Carefully roll to pastry to form a rose, seal the edge, and place in a muffin cup.
9. Repeat for all 6 roses. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until fully cooked.

Marzipan

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1. Meanwhile, make the marzipan. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, mix all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Use green food dye to color the marzipan needed to make the leaves. If the marzipan becomes too wet add more ground almonds. If you don't make a bigger batch you could add the food dye straight to the mix and use less water.
3. Wrap in plastic foil and let set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Serve with some apple tea or any other tea you like. We used apple ginger tea bags to steep the tea.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful week!

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ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL!
PICTURE(s) TAKEN WITH NIKON D5600

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