Subj:  Grandma's Apple Dumplings
From:  DelMarDave
Grandma Todd's Apple Dumplings
To Make Pastry
2 1/4 cups sifted Flour
3/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Shortening
Ice Water, about 7 to 8 tablespoons (just enough to 
make dough stay together)
Sift flour and salt directly into mixing bowl. Add most 
of the shortening and cut it in
with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture looks 
like "meal". Then add remaining
shortening and cut it in pieces the size of giant peas. 
Sprinkle water lightly over
mixture... blending it in with a fork until dough can 
just be pressed together into a ball.
(If desired, divide dough into two or three parts to 
make it easier to handle). Roll out
dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured cloth-covered 
board. Cut into 7-inch squares.
To Make Filling
6 medium-sized tart, juicy Apples
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Butter
Pare and core apples. Place an apple on each pastry 
square. Fill cavity of each apple with
the sugar and cinnamon, mixed together. Dot with butter. 
Moisten points of pastry
square (don't use too much water). Bring opposite points 
up over that apple,
overlapping them. Seal well.
To Make Syrup
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup (White Karo)
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 cup Water
Boil together for three minutes.
Place dumplings about 2 inches apart in a 9 x 13 x 2 
inch baking pan. Pour hot syrup
around chilled dumplings in the pan. Bake immediately 
for 5 to 7 minutes, until the
crust shows slight coloring, in a very hot oven (500 
degrees), then reduce temperature to
a moderate oven (350 degrees) and bake about 30 to 35 
minutes longer. (You can also just
cook it at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes.)
Serve warm with the hot syrup, and with cream too, if 
desired.
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Here's a topping I use on baked apples from the Julia 
Child "The Way to Cook"
cookbook (Grandma never tried this):
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
1/2 cup heavy cream
Whisk egg yolk in a smallish bowl, gradually adding 
the sugar. Continue to beat for
several minutes until lightly thickened, then beat in 
the bourbon, and finally the cream.
Pour over dumplings (or baked apples, or whatever apple 
dessert you want to try this
with) about 5 minutes before the end of cooking time, 
just until the cream has set and
begun to brown in places.