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| Cortland (apple) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The best apples for baking have a full, slightly tart flavor and hold their shape in the intense heat of the oven. When selecting apples for baking, keep in mind that underripe fruits will bake up rubbery and result in a watery dessert, while old apples will be mushy and tasteless. Some varieties begin to ripen in mid-or late summer, but the best baking apples come into season in autumn.
While you are still looking for the best apple to be baked, you can take time to read this recipe and try it with your marketed apples later.
BAKED APPLES
You will need:
4 firm sweet-tart apples
1/4 cup (1 1/2 oz/45 g) dried currants or raisins
1/4 cup (1 oz/30 g) chopped walnuts
4 tbsp (2 oz/60 g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (3 fl oz/85 ml) pure maple syrup
Heavy (double) cream or good quality vanilla ice cream for serving
Here's how:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
With an apple corer, core the apples, then peel the skin from the top third of each apple. If necessary, cut a thin slice off the blossom (bottom) end of each apple so that it will stand upright.
Place the apples 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart in a baking dish with a lid. In a small bowl, combine the currants and walnuts. Insert a cinnamon stick in the hollow center of each apple, then stuff each apple with about 1 tablespoon of the currant-walnut mixture. Pat 1 tablespoon brown sugar on top of each apple. Drizzle maple syrup evenly over each apple.
Cover the baking dish and bake the apples, basting them occasionally with their juices, until they are tender when pierced with a skewer or small knife, 1-1/2 hours. The timing will depend on the size of the apples.
Serve the apples warm with a drizzle of cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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