In the words of Joanne Chang:

When I started working at Payard Pâtisserie in New York City, I had already been a pastry chef in Boston for a few years. I couldn’t wait to see what this French guy could teach me. On my first day, I was handed a stack of recipes—all in French—and immediately realized it would be a challenging year. I spoke and read basic French, but I was pretty hazy on much of the baking vocabulary, and there were many words I’d never even seen before. Pithivier was one of them. I didn’t even know how to pronounce it. (It’s pee-tee-vee-YAY .) “Watch and learn,” Chef Payard told me. He sandwiched a mound of rum-scented almond cream between two large squares of homemade puff pastry and then quickly scalloped the edges of the pastry to look like a sunflower. Slash-slash-slash went his paring knife over the top pastry as he etched sun rays into the surface. The whole thing went into the oven and emerged golden brown with a glorious starburst pattern on top. It put every other pastry I had ever made previously to shame.

In the name of spectacular beauty, we will put all other pastries to shame.

Apple Onion Brandied Raisin Pithivier

2 puff pastry sheets (homemade or thawed)
1 egg
1 Tbs. water

3 Tbs. butter
1 large Red Delicious apple, cored and very finely chopped
1/2 sweet yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 Tbs. bourbon
2 Tbs. fresh rosemary, chopped
6 oz. Gruyere cheese, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out the puff pastry sheets between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Then, using a 9″ pie plate as a stencil, create a round from each sheet, discarding the edges.
Cover with a damp cloth and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a medium skillet over low heat. Add the apples and onions, with a touch of salt, and sauté until golden brown. Add the raisins and bourbon and reduce heat to barely a simmer, for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the pine nuts and fresh rosemary.
Allow the mixture to cool and congeal – about 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese.

Place one puff pastry round on a parchment lined baking sheet. Evenly distribute the  filling across the top of the round, leaving a 1″ border all around. Top with the second puff pastry round, and then crimp the edges closed with a fork.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Brush the top of the pastry pie.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Allow to cool and set for at least 20 minutes before slicing.