It’s winter season in Brooklyn (at last). Crackly, ice-sheeted pathways suggest baked apples, scented with fir sugar and cinnamon, slicked with a little maple syrup, dabbed with butter, and braced by lemon juice.
I matured with baked apples. They were a routine winter season reward in the cold center of South Africa, where my mother baked them in the very same Pyrex meal that held, on rainy days, rolled-up, cuddled, cinnamon-scented crêpes. The apples pertained to the table molten. Wisps of leaving steam were a cautioning my dad never ever hearkened. He ‘d take a normally positive mouthful and shout, “They’re hot,” in injured surprise. They are hot. Straight from the oven, the tender, fruit-filled baked apples fume with heat. The technique is to wait. Let them choose 5 minutes before serving. While they do, their tasty cooking juices turn to golden jelly. Then, they are prepared for your spoon, and for a calming cloud of whipped cream.
Here’s how to bake them entire. They can be a nourishing treat for one, or a rustically delicious dessert for 6.
Photography by Marie Viljoen.
The fragrance increasing from a meal of baked apples is instantaneous convenience. Their taste and fluffiness feed our sensations in a much healthier method than lots of home cooking can. Apple skin and dried fruits are loaded with fiber, in addition to (depending upon the dried fruit you select as a filling) minerals– like iron and anti-oxidants– in raisins and dried figs and plums, particularly. Even cinnamon is an effective anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
And apples remain in season for a long, long time.
If you reside in an apple-growing area, regional farmers markets provide a much wider choice of apples than lots of grocery stores do. No matter source, some apples are much better for baking entire than others, holding their shape through an hour of oven heat. Still, even an imploded pome tastes respectable; it’s simply much better as a midnight treat than the masterpiece after supper.
A few of the very best apples for baking are Braeburn, Cortland, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Woman, and Winesap. Yes, in some cases an apple might divide in the sluggish heat of the oven, however there is something really attractive because rupture. The contrast of caramelized skin and tender flesh is sexy.
There is just one fiddly element to packing and baking apples entire: eliminating the core. My mom utilized an apple corer, and I’m starting to see its appeal. I utilize a slim, sharp knife, slicing down and around, and wiggling out the apple’s seedy, fibrous heart.