Apple Rose Tartlets

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These Apple Rose Tartlets are an easy yet impressive dessert made with homemade pie crust and salted caramel. The end result looks like little roses made of apple slices, cinnamon sugar, and buttery pie crust.

These apple rose tarts are essentially mini apple pies shaped to look like flowers. They are beautiful and impressive, yet surprisingly easy to make. Thinly sliced apples are steamed until tender, then they’re arranged on strips of pie dough along with cinnamon sugar paste. Each strip is rolled up and then popped into muffin tins lined with squares of pie dough.

The end result is gorgeous apple tartlets that look like roses. Buttery pie crust is filled with tender apples nestled in caramelized cinnamon sugar. A drizzle of salted caramel sauce on top is the finishing touch.

What You’ll Need

You will need to use two other recipes from my site to make this dessert exactly the way I did. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need. Make sure to scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.

• Homemade Pie Dough – You could also use store-bought pie dough, but I haven’t tried this recipe with pre-made dough so I’m not sure how that would alter the cooking time.
• Salted Caramel Sauce – You can also use store-bought caramel sauce.
• Apples – You’ll want to use red apples for this recipe and leave the peel on. Red Delicious is a good variety to use.
• Unsalted Butter – At room temperature
• Brown Sugar – I used light brown sugar, but you could also use dark brown sugar if you don’t mind a stronger molasses flavor.
• Ground Cinnamon
• Cornstarch
• Vanilla Ice Cream – You can use your favorite brand of store-bought ice cream, or you can go all out and serve these apple tarts with Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream.

Watch a Step-by-Step Video

Helpful Tools

How to Make Apple Rose Tartlets

Are you ready to make some pretty apple tartlets? Here’s how to do it:

• Make the pie dough and salted caramel. Before you begin cooking the apples, make the pie dough and set it to chill in the fridge for about an hour. You can make the salted caramel sauce the day before, or you can use store-bought caramel sauce.
• Prep the apples. Cut each apple into quarters and remove the core. Using a very sharp knife, cut the apple quarters into thin slices. Steam the sliced apples in a steam pot for approx. 2-3 minutes until soft. Place in a strainer and set aside to cool.
  • If you don’t have a steam pot, you can use a steam basket. (Affiliate link.) Place the steam basket in a large pot and add just enough water so that the water isn’t going inside the steam basket. Add the apple slices, cover the pot, then set the pot over medium-high heat until the water boils. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer the apples for 2-3 minutes.
• Make the cinnamon sugar paste. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and cream for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
  Add cinnamon and starch and mix for a few more seconds until combined.
• Prep your tools. Prepare a standard-size cupcake tin and grease it with baking spray, canola oil, or butter. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Assemble the Tartlets

Now you’re ready to make the apple rose tarts, here’s how:

• Roll out one-half of the pie dough onto a well-floured surface. Slice into twelve 4×4 inch squares.
• Line them inside the cupcake tin, leaving the edges outside of each tin.
• Roll the remaining dough until it is 12 inches at the longest end. Slice it into twelve 1-1.5 inch wide strips.
• Arrange 8-10 apple slices along the length of the pastry, on the top third of the strip. Make sure the red apple peels are facing out.
• Using a spoon, brush half a teaspoon of the cinnamon paste at the bottom of the apples and on the pastry right below them.

• Fold the bottom half of the pastry over the cinnamon paste.
• Roll up the pastry into a coil.
• Place in the pre-prepared tin cup, right on top of the other pastry square. If the apples have moved during the process, rearrange them now. Gently prop up the four edges of the bottom pastry that were previously left outside of each cup.
• Repeat for each of the pastry strips.

• Bake. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, until golden. Take out of the oven, and cool before taking the tartlets out of each tin cup. The tartlets will fall apart if you try to remove them while they are hot.
• Serve. Gently remove each tartlet using your fingers and a fork. Serve warm.

Tips for Success

• Let the pie crust chill. Make sure you let the dough chill for an hour so that it is easier to shape and handle.
• Slice the apples thinly. If you have a mandoline (affiliate link) that is the easiest way to get thin, even slices. Otherwise, just work patiently with a sharp knife. You want to slices to be about the same thickness so that they steam in the same amount of time. Thin slices also mean that the peel, which is left on the apples, won’t be tough once your pies are finished baking.
• Be patient. When rolling up the pie dough and apple slices to make the roses it is important to go slowly. If you try to do it too fast the apple slices can fall out. (If some do fall out, don’t worry, you can tuck them back into the pie crust after you have placed each tart into the muffin tin.)

How to Serve Apple Rose Tartlets

I like to add a drizzle of salted caramel sauce to these, then serve them warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Store-bought caramel sauce and ice cream are both totally fine! I included links above to my homemade caramel and bourbon vanilla ice cream in case you want them though. 🙂 You can also add a dollop of whipped cream on top of your apple tartlets.

These mini apple pies can also be eaten cold. In fact, it is super satisfying to just grab one out of the fridge and bite into it without a fork. Just gobble it up and lick your fingers when you’re done.

Storing Extras

Let the tarts cool to room temperature, then transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To freeze, first place the room-temperature tarts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for a couple of hours until solid. Then wrap each tart in saran wrap and store in a freezer-safe, airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours before serving.

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