The Small Hour Cook: Caramel Apple Wreath

As a kid, my mom was really into Pampered Chef. You know, the company which produces amazing kitchen gadgets, which despite their stupidly exuberant price, you just can't live with out. I have many memories of some of the amazing concoctions she would make, everything from homemade pizza on their pizza ring, to pies which just tasted better because of the $100 pie pan (I'm exaggerating, it probably wasn't a $100 pie pan). But I digress.

A few years back, I found a pizza stone from Food Network at Kohls. It sat nicely with my other pans until recently, when I remembered my mom making this Caramel Apple Ring.

Yes, this golden crescent crusted beauty is the apple ring from my childhood. It not only tastes amazing, it looks nice too. Individuals of all ages (who like apples, cream cheese, and pastry plus caramel sauce) will enjoy it. Guaranteed!

The recipe is quite simple, so lets break it down:

2 tubes of crescent rolls (I got the low carb one)
2 packages cream cheese (I got the fat free one)
1/2 cup powder sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
cinnamon sugar mixture to sprinkle over the apples
2 Granny Smith Apples (I got two medium, but one large and a small one would work), cored and sliced
Smucker's Sundae Toppings--Caramel for the drizzle

Begin by mixing your cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Combine until smooth. Note, that you can adjust the amount of sugar--but you want some in there to sweeten the cream cheese a little. Set mixture aside.

Peel, core, and slice your apples. If you're gonna take a while getting the next part done, you might put some lemon juice on them to keep them from browning.

Next, open your tubes of the crescent rolls, and begin laying them out around your rings. The base of the triangle should be towards the middle of the ring, and the tip of it (skinniest part) can drape over the edge of the pizza ring for now. Once you have the ring made with your crescent rolls, put your cream cheese mixture on. Spread it evenly around the ring.

Take your sliced apples, and layer them ontop of the cream cheese.