I like to finish off every dinner with something sweet. It doesn’t have to be a full-on dessert – sometimes a square of dark chocolate will do the trick. After seeing tables piled high with apples at the farmer’s market this weekend, I started craving a good old baked apple. We ate them a lot as children, smothered either is sweet vanilla custard or rich clotted cream. What I most love is that they are incredibly easy to prepare and most children love them. I’ve added some hemp seeds to health them up a bit, but leave out if you’re just cooking for kids, as they often don’t love the visual of seeds! When I make mine with seeds, my daughter meticulously picked each seed out.Baked Apples
4 cooking apples (if you can’t find “cooking apples,” use Granny Smith’s). Make sure your apples are organic.
1/2cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2cup raisins1/4cup of hemp seeds (optional)
1/4tsp ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4tbsp brown rice syrup
1/2 stick of melted unsalted butter
Pre-heat the oven to 355°F
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Add the almonds, raisins, spices and brown rice syrup to the butter, stir well, set aside.
Prepare the apples:remove the core. Using a sharp knife draw a line around the middle of each apple, although you were drawing a line around it’s waistline – This will stop it exploding and/or caving in. Stuff with the nut/spice mixture till it reaches the top of each apple.
Cook for 45 -60 minutes (depending on the size of your cooking apples), until apples are very tender when poked with a knife.
Serve immediately with plain yogurt (I use my homemade yogurt) or if you’re feeling indulgent, a little creme fraiche.
