Stuffed Baked Apples

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As you know we love feeding the Missionaries.  The last few months has seen a slow down in that area due to problems with our dishwasher and my health, but thankfully both of those issues seem to have been sorted, with a new dishwasher (courtesy of our appliance insurance) and some changes in my medication and diet!  Win/win!  So happily I signed up to have each set of Missionaries over for tea this month.  The other night we had the first set and this was the dessert I made for them!

Stuffed Baked Apples.  Such an easy dish to make and oh-so-delicious!  Almost like an apple crumble but much, much easier.

The recipe is set up for four servings, but I did six (easy when you know the math) because I always like to have extra’s just in case.

You can use any good eating apple.  I used Jazz apples, which had a lovely flavour. (They are like a sweet delicious apple.) They did take a bit longer than some other varieties might take, so do bear that in mind when you are baking apples.  Not all varieties are equal, some take longer to bake than others.  You just have to keep testing them.  When done a sharp knife will slip in easily.

You begin by hollowing out/coring the apples.  I use my melon baller, but you can use whatever you have to hand.  The thing to remember is, you don’t want to core them all the way to the bottom. You will need to keep the bottom end intact so that the filling doesn’t leak out from there.

The filling is very simple . . .  old fashioned large flake oats,  brown sugar, chopped pecans and raisins, some butterscotch or white chocolate chips . . .

Warm baking spices . . .  ground cinnamon, cloves (just a pinch because cloves can be very overpowering) and freshly grated nutmeg.  Oh, I do love the smell of freshly grated nutmeg, don’t you?  I always use my fine micro-plane /grater-zester to do this job. I wouldn’t be without it.

You could also add some aromatics such as grated orange or lemon zest.  This mixture gets stuffed down into the apples . . .  and then you top each with a tiny bit of butter, add some hot water in the baking dish around them, cover and bake.

Covered for the first half hour or so, and uncovered for the last.  The end result is a very delicious, simple, homey dessert that will have the whole family oohing and aahing.  Todd really loves these.  You can serve them with pouring cream as I have here, custard (very good) or vanilla bean ice cream (My favourite!).  They are lovely served warm.  You can bake them earlier in the day and then just pop them back into the oven to re-heat while you are eating your main course.  These are real family pleasers!

240ml hot water (1 cup) 

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold your apples in a single layer.  

Wash and dry your apples.  Working from the stem end down, core the apples making about 1/2 inch space, leaving bottom intact. A melon baller works great for this. 

Mix together the sugar, oats, raisins, pecans, chops, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Pack one quarter of this mixture down into the hollow of each apple, packing it in firmly.  Arrange in the baking dish in a single layer, cut side up.  Dot the top of each with 1 tsp butter. Pour the hot water into the dish around the apples. Cover loosely with aluminium foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, until the apples are soft and the filling has nicely cooked.   

Serve warm with ice cream, custard or pouring cream.  

Note – depending on the variety of apples it may take a bit longer.  When done, the tip of a sharp knife should easily penetrate near the base of the apples.

Simple desserts like this really are the best.  These went down a real treat with everyone!  Bonne Weekend!