#MeatlessMonday - Grandmother's Apple Dumplings #British #dessert #recipe

My British grandmother was a wonderful cook, especially when it came to desserts. Before she emigrated to America, she worked as a housekeeper for a well-to-do manor house in Sheffield, England. She would tell me many stories about England and how much she missed it. I loved hearing them and found myself pining for the green hills of Yorkshire with her. Many years after her death I was able to travel to her birthplace and saw why she missed it so. My latest paranormal novel, Whispers in the Wood, is a nod to her as it takes place in England.
This was one of my favorite childhood recipes she taught me how to make. If you don't wish to venture into homemade pastry, frozen sheet pastry will do (buy enough for two pies). Enjoy!

Ingredients 

Pastry

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
5-7 T cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt mixture until it resembles small peas. Add cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until pastry sticks together. Roll out into a thin sheet and cut into 4 squares.

Apples 

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
Fill each core with a pat of butter, a teaspoon of sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon

*Wrap each apple with pastry, closing the top like a drawstring purse, and set in a baking pan.

Sauce

Mix:
1-3/4 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
3T butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Boil mixture for 3 minutes and pour over pastry wrapped apples.

Bake uncovered at 500F for 5-7 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350F and bake for 35-40 minutes more. Enjoy with tea (of course!) and a good book.