I would describe myself as having perseverant tendencies. Perseverance refers to the drive and determination to complete a project or task, regardless of how long it takes or how many setbacks you experience along the way. Perseverance is not giving up.

I had seen these apple rose tarts all over Instagram for a while now. They have been on my must-make list for several months. I finally got around to trying them a few weeks ago. There are many versions on this theme, but they all boil down to this basic process: thinly slice apples and cook them until slightly pliable, but not mushy. Cut strips of store bought puff pastry, spread with jam and roll the thinly sliced apples up in the pastry, to form a “rose”. Bake until done.

I believe the original recipe was created by Manuela Mazzocco. Check out her reel on Instagram to see how she makes them.

Armed with several pounds of all-butter frozen puff pastry, and about 20 pounds of apples I got to work. I ran into two main roadblocks. The first problem was that the pastry in the centre of the rose never got fully cooked. Raw puff pastry is disgusting not pleasant to eat. If I baked the roses longer, the outside of the pastry burned. The second issue I had was that the thinly sliced apples burned at the edges because puff pastry needs a hot oven and at least 30-40 minutes to bake.

I tried rolling the strips tighter, then looser, baked them in muffin tins and individual ceramic ramekins and even tried baking them upside down. While my husband happily ate all the mistakes, I continued to persevere. I had to figure this out.

Eventually I wondered if I could just form the apple rose without rolling it up in pastry. Once the rose was formed, I just wrapped the exterior in a circle of puff pastry. Success. Check out my video to see how I did it.

Here is what I discovered in my journey:

You can thinly slice the apples by hand with a very sharp knife and some good knife skills, but it is much easier and you will get much more consistent results with a mandoline.

Firm white fleshed apples, such as Cortland or Empire apples, produce the prettiest roses. Honeycrisp apples are also good, although their flesh is a bit more yellow than the snowy white interior of the Cortland or Empire. I added a few drops of pink gel food colouring to the cooking water. It gave the white fleshed apples a beautiful pale pink tint.

Defrost puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator. Chill your softened apples before forming the roses and wrapping them in the puff pastry. Hot or warm apples on cold puff pastry are a poor combination.

When rolling out the thawed puff pastry, flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll gently.

Try brushing the puff pastry with maple butter instead of jam. Maples and apple are a yummy combo.

Just as you would dot the top of an apple pie with butter, brush the tops of the roses with some melted butter and a good sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar before they hit the oven.

Pop the assembled tarts into the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. That will firm up the butter in the puff pastry and giving you extra flaky layers.

Start the tarts in a 425°F oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375°F. The intense heat will jumpstart the baking.

Make little foil hats for all the apples. Those thinly sliced apples are delicate and you want to protect them.

A light dusting with icing sugar once they are cool, makes them extra pretty and sweet.

Leftovers keep for 1-2 days, on the counter, uncovered. If you wrap them, they will sweat and the pastry will get soggy.

A scoop of salted caramel ice cream is a welcome accompaniment.

Click here to print recipe for Maple Apple Rose Tarts.