No-fail Apple Desserts to Take Your Thanksgiving Feast Over the Top

What holiday meal would be complete without the best part of the meal? And that would certainly be dessert! Top off your best homemade Thanksgiving feast with some delectable, attention-grabbing desserts that's sure to have your guests begging for more! Sure, desserts always seem to be getting fancier and fancier, but the secret behind it? Fancy-looking and yummy desserts don't always have to be complicated. Here are some ideas for no-fail Thanksgiving desserts.

Even in desserts, it's best to use the produce of the season. Not only are seasonal fruits easy to find, but their flavors are at their best, and they bring the freshness of the orchards to your table. Take advantage of the autumn produce and they will serve as the crowning glory of your homemade feast.

You can't miss out on the apples-they're everywhere! Although commercial farming has made them available year-round, apples are traditionally at their best during the fall, so apple-based desserts are extra special. The most common apple dessert would be apple pies or apple strudels, but many of us only seem to admire the beautiful displays at local bakeshops and patisseries only to shrug off these desserts as too complicated for the home baker. You can do dozens of variations on these desserts, and the best part of it for pastry-phobes is that you don't even have to make a pie crust! Imagine not having to break a sweat wrestling with your ball of dough and coming up with tasty, golden pastries!

Try making apple wontons or apple dumplings, as some might call them. Granny Smith apples work best for pastries and baking in general. Just peel and core your apples, slice them however thick you want (as long as they can fit into wonton wrappers) and sauté them in a pan with some butter, sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Caramelize the sugar so it coats your apples and they become a nice golden brown. Don't overcook them though, cause they will still go into the oven after this. While in the pan, you can also add raisins or fresh cranberries if you like, as well as a dash of rum (dark rum is best). The best part about this dessert is that you don't have to measure everything exactly; you can add the ingredients like sugar, cinnamon, fruits, liquor to adjust to your personal taste. Once the sugar has caramelized, take the apples off the stovetop. Take out some wonton wrappers and dust them with confectioner's sugar so they don't stick to your work surface. Spoon just enough apple filling in the center of the wrapper. Pick up the sides of the wrapper to enclose your filling, just as you would make a regular dumpling. Use kitchen twine to tie the dumpling. Be sure that you don't put in too much filling or your wrapper will rupture and you'll have a hard time tying their tops. Put your dumplings into the oven just until they're golden brown-you can eyeball this without worry because no pastry is in danger of collapsing or being undercooked. Once out of the oven, take off the kitchen twine and dust your dumplings with confectioner's sugar. This is best served when warm.

You can also use the same filling for phyllo pastries if you like. You can buy phyllo pastries in the frozen section of the grocery store. Thaw the phyllo sheets overnight in the refrigerator. Drizzle butter over them and spread out with a pastry brush. Make a nut sugar mixture by mixing together some sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans. You can spread this thinly over your phyllo sheet, layer it with another buttered phyllo sheet and repeatedly layer to maybe 4 or 5 sheets. Another variation would be to spread the nut sugar mixture on one edge of the phyllo sheet and roll it up gently into a log. Bake the filo in the oven until they are crunchy and golden brown. Then it's as simple as spooning the apple mixture over your pastry and serving it warm. A simple and elegant dessert success!

You can also take advantage of packaged foods by purchasing frozen puff pastry dough from the supermarket. Thaw the sheets overnight in the refrigerator. You can use these to make an elegant tart tatin, a traditional French dessert. Make the same apple filling as described above. If you want to make a big tart, leave the hot mixture in an 8-inch or 9-inch shallow sauté pan. If you want to make small portions, spoon the mixture into individual ramekins around an inch of the way up from the bottom. Cut your puff pastry sheet into rounds just slightly bigger than your dish (either the pan or the individual ramekins). Gently place the pastry over the mouth of the dish to cover it. Put it into the oven to bake until the puff pastry has risen and is golden. Take the dish out of the oven and invert them into a plate-you have a beautiful tart tatin with fragrant apples and a golden syrup running down the sides. A gorgeous dessert to top that Thanksgiving feast!