How about this for a simple, sensational dessert?
South African Pink Lady and Golden Delicious apples, cored and scored around their middles, then filled with dried fruits, orange zest and ground almonds – baked until soft. Anyone for ice cream on the side?
Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 4
2 South African Pink Lady apples
2 South African Golden Delicious apples
30g butter, softened
50g ground almonds
30g light muscovado sugar
2tbsp sultanas
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
Vanilla ice cream or single cream, to serve
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan oven 160°C, Gas Mark 4.
2. Using a sharp knife, score abound the middles of each apple – like an equator running around the earth! Remove the cores with an apple corer or a sharp knife. Grease a baking dish with a knob of the butter, then stand the apples in the dish.
3. Mix the remaining butter with the ground almonds, sugar, sultanas and orange zest. Spoon into the cored apples, and pour the orange juice on top.
4. Bake the apples for 20-25 minutes, until the flesh is soft – check with the tip of a sharp knife to see if they are tender. Cool for a few minutes (or else they are too hot to handle!) and serve with vanilla ice cream or single cream.
Cook’s tip: If you can’t fit all the filling into the apples, just add it to the baking dish 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.
Recipe & Image South African Fruit