But why should we have the apple dumpling at all? An apple dumpling adds a pastry crust. Food historians trace this type of apple dumpling back to Glasse's book. An apple dumpling is a baked pastry-wrapped apple. In the US, September 17 is National Apple Dumpling Day. Wrapped in a pastry crust, it becomes an apple dumpling. A baked apple wrapped in a pastry crust is an apple dumpling. "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again" and "Zapped!". The Apple Dumpling Gang is a 1975 American comedy-western film directed by Norman Tokar. In Austria a "large, soft" apple dumpling called "apfelnockerln" is eaten. "The Apple Dumpling Gang" (1975), "Gus" (1976), and "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again" (1979).