Pies and Tarts

• Pies with puff pastry top and bottom crusts and tarts with just bottom crusts use the same techniques as pies and tarts made with regular pastry. Use your favorite apples, or experiment with a combination of apples, such as Granny Smith as a bottom layer for their firmness, Golden Delicious in the middle for sweetness and McIntosh on top to ooze into the other types. Add a pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoon of lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

Apple Turnovers -- Plain and Fancy

• You can form turnovers into simple rectangles or cut them into triangles or circles. Then either bake or deep-fry them. Use the same apple filling you would for a pie or tart, but chop the apples finely or grate them coarsely. Simple turnovers get the same flavoring as apple pie, but for more elaborate flavors, add raisins and walnuts; a bit of apple-flavored brandy, rum or liqueur; some cheddar, goat or farmers cheese; or apricots and brown sugar.

Apple Napoleons

• To create two-towered Napoleons, bake puff pastry sheets that you have cut into small squares or rectangles for each individual serving. Saute apple slices with butter and sugar and let them cool to room temperature. Then layer the apples, the pastry pieces and spoonfuls of vanilla pudding, whipped cream, sweetened commercial creme fraiche or creme patissiere, a pastry cream made with an egg custard thickened with flour. Drizzle each finished Napoleon with honey or sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

Baked Apples Wrapped in Pastry

• Apples wrapped in a coating of puff pastry dough look elaborate but aren't hard to make. The process begins with a peeled and cored apple stuffed with sugar, cinnamon, raisins and toasted, chopped walnuts. Place the apple in the center of pastry that you've rolled out into a rectangle. Then, gather the corners of the pastry together, and pinch the edges together to seal the package. Finally, trim off any excess dough with scissors, chill the apples to firm the butter in the dough, and bake.