Baked apples

[persephone_kore]

1. Several smallish apples, variety uncertain. Quartered, cored, and placed flesh-down, skin-up in pan.
2. Drizzle of honey. Fairly generous drizzle.
3. Sprinkle of nutmeg.
4. Somewhat heavier sprinkle of cinnamon.
5. Several thin curls of butter.
6. Water.
7. Baked at 350 for 30 min. Totally forgot to check despite timer. Probably baked extra half hour.

Result: Actually, not bad but a little bland. Too much water, I think. Next time, less water and more tasty stuff. Also, better record keeping.

Comments

[gabri-jade.livejournal.com]

Mmm, baked apples. I should try to bake apples. Shame I'm so lazy about cooking. :p

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

So am I, actually. These are pretty simple. Next time I'll try to post a more useful recipe, maybe with time estimates.

[weaverandom.livejournal.com]

That sounds impossibly delicious.

*makes notes*

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

The whole thing was the result of looking at several recipes for baked apples and then guessing. Most of them actually involved coring the apple and stuffing it with cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and often raisins and/or nuts. I think this is actually where the water problem came in: if you leave the apples nearly whole like that, a lot of people will essentially cook them up in a water bath. I was afraid of scorching something and literally washed out a lot of the flavor.

Still not bad though, just not as rich as intended. I shall have to experiment again!

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

I'd love to try this - though I'll probably go a little heavier on the spices (because you can never overdo the cinnamon, right?)

I can't help wondering what would happen if I were to do as Mr. Woodhouse recommends in Emma and make thrice-baked apples. Would they even be recognizable as apples when they were done? Going to dinner at the Woodhouses' must have been extremely taxing sometimes.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

The spices would probably seem a lot heavier if I hadn't overdone the water. I think next time I will maybe add more spices... perhaps more butter, too. And perhaps brown sugar and/or more honey. But definitely less water. The apples are nice enough, and they smell good, but too much of the apple flavor seems to have washed out.

I have no idea what thrice-baked apples would resemble. Applesauce, perhaps?

[miss-porcupine.livejournal.com]

My baked apples: large Romes, cored but otherwise whole, to fill a baking dish. Dried fruit (raisins, diced apricots, cranberries) or small-cut fresh (or fresh cranberries, which I have in abundance in my freezer) to fill nooks and crannies. A couple of cinnamon sticks and whole cloves at the bottom of the pan along with enough not-water liquid (juice, spiced simple syrup, combination of both) so that it won't dry out. Fill the empty apple cores with complementary-flavored jam (raspberry works well). Bake 45 @375, but check after 30 to see how everything's doing.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Ooh, neat.

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

You can bake 'em in the microwave, too. Works good. Take the cored apple, partly peel away some of the skin around one side of the cored-out area. Place in a small dish and drop some brown sugar/honey and butter into the cored center. Sprinkle with cinnamon, etc. Nuke on high for a minute, check it and nuke again for another minute or so till it gets a little soft. Let stand a minute or two and enjoy.

Notice no water is added, so the sugar-butter syrup in the dish is nice and strong. :)

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Good to know. :) I actually did want them chopped up this time, but the stuffed-core variation sounds fun too.