Celebrating Sherry Week with Apple Roses and Sherry Sabayon:
It’s Sherry Week and I’ve been sent a bottle of sherry to sample and match with some food. Until the bottle arrived, I had no idea what I would cook – there’s a huge variety of sherries – from bone dry Amontillados through to rich treacly Pedro Ximénez. So of course what you should pair your sherry depends on which bottle you have. So, why Apple Roses? Well, an English rose for what must be the most ‘English’ of Spanish Sherries.
My sherry turned out to be a bottle of cream sherry – which as I am sure you know is not made with any dairy but is a blend of Oloroso with Pedro Ximénez to create a semi-sweet wine. In England we probably all know it as ‘Aunty’s favourite’ – Harvey’s Bristol Cream – brought out at Christmas to drink with mince pies while watching the Queen’s Speech. Not a bad idea as it happens – it works very well with sweet, autumn fruit dishes.
Apparently, it was named when a woman at a sherry tasting in the late 1800s tried a new variety of ‘Bristol’s Milk’ (Bristol being a Port that was famous for importing sherry). It was sweeter and richer – and so, legend has it, she declared ‘ If that was milk – then this is cream’ and Harvey’s Bristol Cream was born.
It’s actually quite an intense wine and works well with fruity desserts. I tasted it and it was intensely spicy and rich – so I wanted to use that lovely trio of autumnal spices – nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. And, since at this time of year every English household is overwhelmed with apples, I set about making an apple dessert as a pairing. Just because I fancied pimping things up a bit, I made a sherry sabayon too, with the cream sherry.
The result was delicious and quite stunning.
Sabayon is just an alcoholic whisked custard made with sugar, egg yolks and sherry or marsala wine. I’ve made it for years – originally with a hand whisk. But, it is something that takes a lot of patience – and an electric whisk lessens the pain considerably.
The apple roses are something that I’ve seen a lot on the internet. Essentially a poshed up baked apple served in a puff pastry case, they are an excellent way to create a dish with a bit of wow. You can make them up in advance and then pop them in to bake while you are eating your main course. Perfect. And, pairing a sweet spice scented rose with an oloroso (scented) laced cream sherry seems achingly appropriate. The dark spices and sugar caramelised to make a deep brown glaze over the red apple skin which looks almost burnt here – but it tasted delicious!
So without further ado, here’s the recipe if you’d like to try at home. This makes two roses each. They are excellent with a glass of cream sherry even if you don’t make the sabayon!
- 3 Medium Red skinned eating apples
- 1/2 Lemon
- 2 tsbp brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp Freshly grated Nutmeg
- 3 tbsp Apricot Jam
- 2 tbsp Hot Water
- 1 sheet All Butter Puff Pastry
- 3 large Egg Yolks
- 3 tbsp Cream Sherry
- 3 tbsp Caster Sugar
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Preheat the oven to 180C
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Core the apples and cut in half. Then, if possible using a mandoline, slice them very thinly to create 'half moon' shapes, about 1/8th inch thick or less
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Put the apple slices in a large microwave safe bowl, squeeze over the lemon juice and cover with water
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Microwave for 5 minutes till the slices are soft
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Drain and dry gently with kitchen paper
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Mix together all the spices and the sugar and toss the apple slices in the mixture
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Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 6 equal strips
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Coat each slice of pastry with the apricot jam mixed with hot water
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Lay the apple slices along one edge of each strip, overlapping slightly and with the cut end of the apple about a third of the way down the pastry
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Fold each slice of pastry in half along the long edge, so that the apple slices are neatly tucked in and press down gently.
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Roll up each slice to make a 'rose' . At this stage you can pop them into a pre-greased muffin tin and cover with film and refrigerate if you are making them in advance
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When you are ready to bake, pop in the oven for 40-45 minutes. The edges of the 'roses' should caramelise but if the pastry starts to burn, cover with foil while the roses continue to cook.
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Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and sherry till slightly frothy
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Place the bowl over a pan of just simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl
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Wisk for around 4-8 minutes till the mixture becomes very light and frothy - about 3 times the original volume. You should be able to make a trail of the mixture with a metal spoon.
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Serve the roses in a pool of warm sabayon dusted with a little icing sugar
This is my #SherryWeekBlog – a recipe to celebrate #SherryWeek. Though personally, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to drink sherry all the year round. Real sherry comes from a particular region of Spain, near Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia. Mine was a DO Jerez-Xeres sherry and came with the mark of authenticity on the label. Most sherries are made from the Palomino grape, though the sweetest sherries are made from Pedro Ximenez or Moscatel grapes. Dark, heavier sherries like the Oloroso that makes up part of the cream sherry I was sent, are allowed to oxidise as they age in barrel. And, as mentioned before, cream sherry is usually a blend of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso – to make a semi-sweet wine that is perfect for pairing with light, spicy fruit desserts.
If you’d like to try this recipe later, why not pin this post for later!
What a lovely idea, to make a dessert in the shape of a rose! I’m sure that the addition of cream sherry makes this a really tasty dish
The apple roses look really clever – but they are actually a doddle if you use bought puff pastry!
I can’t bring myself to enjoy a glass of Sherry but I would definitely make the apple dessert! Yum 🙂
you can make the sabayon with any sweet fortified wine – though I do like the sherry version. There are so many different types of sherry to try…
On my goodness, the rose looks incredible. I’m sure they taste as good as they look 🙂
They are really not hard to make – and yes – they are essentially, spicy baked apples;)
Beautiful Apple Roses, Fiona. I love sherry although I’m more of a dry sherry type of person, I agree that cream sherry is perfect with deserts.
I was really surprised that I could make something which looks so fancy! Mind you – it is just apple, pastry and spices really
This is seriously impressive to look at and I can imagine tastes great!
They are so easy to make. They were a bit of a food blogging fashion about 18 months ago – and I thought they looked too fiddly for me – but actually they are really straightforward and don’t involve anything that you’d need to go out and buy!
Those Apple roses look sublime!
Thank you – they are definitely a favourite now.
Yum!!! This looks sublime! And your writing just made me imagine just how this would taste….I want to come to yours for sherry and apple dessert 😍
Glad you like the look of them. I am now obsessed both with apple roses and with sabayon – which I can just make and eat by itself!
I guess sherry is popular in UK. In India, people haven’t heard much about it. Wines are popular…port too though only in areas which were colonized by Portuguese! Preparation seems tempting!
You could make the Sabayon with any sweet wine – though obviously if you used a dark port it would spoil the colour. Sherry is popular in the UK – particularly ‘cream’ sherry (semi sweet). There are other types which are much better suited to savoury food.
Love the look of them, ideal for a posh light dinner party pud 🙂
Yes indeed – we had them for a girls night in – and, because you can make the roses up in advance and pop them in the fridge, they are very easy!
Quite luscious and of course delicious looking recipe……nice arrangements and preparation…:)
This dessert looks absolutely gorgeous, and irresistible!
OK… I JUST saw a brief video on apple roses in Pinterest and was able to resist. But now… too delicious to pass up!
I had no idea we have a Sherry week!! Will raise a glass later…
I absolutely love this recipe and will definitely give it a go – these flavours are a firm favourite in my house. I can make roses in icing, but not sure if I will be able to make them to look like yours!
honestly, they are WAY easier than icing roses!
Oh my hat! What an awesome dessert – I have seen many of them before, but this one beats all others and yes I have pinned it for sure. Thanks for sharing.
How gorgeous and, I’m sure, delicious!
This looks pretty nice, Fiona! Well done you!
I love Bristol Cream, the richness of flavour is definitely my cup of tea, or should I say sherry? Using it in a sabayon definitely appeals, and I love love love your beautiful apple rose!
These look absolutely amazing! I bet they’re delicious. I’m so hungry I wish I had one I could eat right now :).
This looks so pretty.! And I bet it tastes good too!
I think they taste great – and I’ve always loved Sabayon – I used to make it when I was at Uni, with dollops of Harvey’s Bristol Cream that I’d nicked from home!
Lovely! These look too good to eat! Pinned to my recipe board so I don’t lose it 🙂
Thanks Ruth;) really easy to make!
Gorgeous apple rose Fiona! I’ve never managed to make one myself!
Have you tried? I actually found them really easy to do – I watched a video then winged it!
My mouth actually started watering! This looks delicious! I will definitely have to try this!
I am very impressed with your apple rose Fiona, it looks beautiful. Sabayon is quite a classic dessert, you have inspired me to actually have a go making it!
So long as you have an electric hand wisk Sabayon isn’t hard. I’d recommend using yolks only – and just try to make sure the bottom of your bowl doesn’t touch the water below or you get something like sherry flavoured scrabbled eggs:)
I have loved Sheery for many years now and remember savouring it over Christmas cake at home in Bombay with my family, Thanks to my Dad’s frequent trips abroad we were introduced to it early on and it is quite widely available now. That baked apple rose is stunning Fiona!
First I have heard of Sherry Week, the Apple Rose looks great.
Looks stunning
Really wish I could create something as lovely
This sounds and looks amazing but unusual
Looks so incredible. I love apples. I sure it taste divine.
Wow These look simply stunning. I bet they taste as good as they look.
Wow!! This looks soooo amazing!! Going to try it soon, to impress hubby’s boss when he comes to dinner!!
What a lovely idea that makes something simple into something special.