On this page: Baked Apples
Baked Apples ^top
My life changed when a friend of my mother’s brought me a collection of apple bakers – small, round ceramic baking dishes with a post in the center. At the same time I received a fancy Italian ice cream – making machine, and in the kitchen we were constantly making baked apples and ice cream. You may cover the baking apples with puff pastry for an even more elegant dessert. I like the combination of dried fruits and nuts witht the sweetness of apple in this recipe. Sometime we drizzle caramel or melted chocolate over the top. If you leave the apples in the oven too long, they may get wrinkled, but they wills till be delicious.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
⅓ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup toasted bread crumbs
4 tablespoons chopped dried fruit, such as cranberries and cherries
4 tablespoons chopped black walnuts, toasted
4 large baking apples (such as Braeburn or Granny Smith)
½ cup apple cider
2 tablespoons birch syrup
Vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the butter, brown sugar, bread crumbs, dried fruit, and walnuts. Pulse several times to mix the ingredients and to chop them into uniform pieces. Place the apples in a shallow casserole dish and stuff their core cavities with the fruit-and-nut mixture. Mix the apple cider and the birch syrup and pour into the bottom of the casserole. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake the apples just until they are tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Transfer the apples to a serving platter and cover them with foil to keep warm. Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer the mixture until it reduces to a sauce, about 10 minutes. Serve the apples with a scoop of ice cream and the reduced cider-syrup sauce spooned over the top of the apples. Makes 4 servings.
