Baked Apples
Baked Apples
Beryl Skuce
Note from Mamta: Baked apple and custard is an easy, delicious and quick English dessert. It used to be a favourite with my late English neighbour Beryl, who taught me how to make it. Try with different types of apples. I usually make it with Granny Smith apples, which are quite tart. They are delicious served with vanilla ice-cream. Serves 2
Ingredients
2 cooking or other tart apples
2 tbsp. dry fruit mix (sultanas/raisins and cashews/almonds), chopped. Also see other filling ideas below.
2-3 tbsp. fruit juice or water to bind mixed fruit
2 tsp butter
Instructions
Heat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6
Wash and wipe apples dry.
Remove the central core from the apples without breaking them. It may be easier to do it with either an apple corer or a potato peeler.
Make a shallow cut through the skin, across the central circumference of each apple. This is to allow the skin to split evenly and not break up randomly.
Mix the fruit and juice to bind them together.
Fill the centre core of each apple with the filling, pushing it in with a small spoon.
Place apples in a shallow, oven proof dish, top with a knob of butter.
Cover loosely with a piece of aluminium foil and bake in the centre of a hot oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the apples are soft.
Serve hot, with either a scoop or two of vanilla ice-cream or custard or lightly sweetened yoghurt.
Other filling ideas:
Mashed bananas, porridge oats and brown sugar.
Other nuts like Brazil nuts or hazelnuts, bound with honey.
Mincemeat (an English mix of raisins, sultanas, nuts, lemon/orange, candied orange/lemon peel, sugar, chopped apples, dry berries, mixed spice etc.). it can be bought ready-made from most supermarkets.
Chopped chocolate, chopped fresh or preserved ginger and crumbled paneer or ricotta cheese.
Simply nuts, sugar and butter.
Cranberries or raspberries and sugar.
Any Jam of your choice.
