Baked Apples
A simple, old-fashioned dessert. So delicious with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
4 apples, Golden Delicious, Rome, Jonagold or whatever you have on hand
1⁄4 c brown sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1⁄2 t ground nutmeg
1⁄4 c chopped walnuts
1⁄4 c dried cherries, cranberries, raisins, or currents (if the dried fruit is large, chop it into small pieces)
1 T unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
Bourbon, optional
Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a shallow baking dish or 9x14x2” oval baking dish.
Core the apples, making sure not to go all the way through to the bottom, leaving the bottom 1⁄2 inch of the apple intact. Use a spoon to carve out a hole about 1 inch wide for the filling. If the apples won’t stand upright, slice a little bit off the bottom so they will. Place the apples into the prepared baking dish.
In a bowl stir together sugar, spices, walnuts, and fruit. Fill each apple with the sugar mixture. Add a splash of bourbon if you want, then place a pat of butter on top. Fill the baking dish with a 1⁄2 inch of water so they don’t dry out. Bake for about 45 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Caramel sauce is a nice addition if you have some.
Salted Caramel Sauce
I posted the keto version recently. This is the classic sugar recipe.
1 c sugar
1 T corn syrup (optional)
1⁄4 c water
2 t sea salt
1⁄2 c heavy whipping cream
2 T unsalted butter, cut into small cubes (if you have cultured butter, use it for more tang)
Pour sugar, corn syrup, salt and water into a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan (best to use one without a dark interior so you can see the color change). Cook the sugar mixture over medium heat, whisking, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil rapidly and cook, without whisking, until the caramel turns a medium amber color. If you see dried sugar on the sides of the pan, use a pastry brush dipped in cold water to brush down the sides of the pan and dissolve that sugar.
Once the sugar is a medium amber color, turn off heat and whisk in the butter. Carefully add the cream, and whisk to combine. The mixture will rise dramatically in the pan and sputter, so use a long handled whisk if you have one. If any bits of caramel have solidified, set the pan back over low heat and stir gently until they melt. Cool to room temperature.