Birthday Sweets - part 1

My crafty friend Bobbie threw a fantastic 30th birthday party for her wonderful sister, Aubrey. Bobbie gave me the honor of baking up the desserts. I happily obliged. I baked up a storm, making pumpkin cake, an apple tart, and a berry cobbler.

Let's start with the apple tart. (Ha, that rhymed.) This dessert looks very impressive, but takes SO little time or effort. The recipe came from Martha again, but I cut out the unnecessary steps/ingredients. Martha, Martha, there's no need for such complexity.

Step one: buy apples and puff pastry. Two: peel and slice apples. Three: roll puff pastry out into a rectangle.

Four: score a 3/4 inch border around the edge. Don't cut all the way through.

Step five: in a large bowl, toss apples in sugar with a dash of cinnamon. Six: arrange the apples on the pastry dough, keeping within the edges.

Step seven: bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. (Optional) step eight: glaze with warmed apricot or apple jelly for a pretty sheen.

Thanks for the recipe, Martha. I'm going to paint my fingernails with the extra time that I saved.

Apple Tart adapted from Martha Stewart

You will need:

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed, rolled out to about an 8x14 inch rectangle
• flour for work surface
• 2-3 tart apples, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• a few dashes of cinnamon
• a Tablespoon or two of apricot or apple jelly (optional)

Impress your friends with this fall favorite. Berry Cobbler coming next week.