Hallowe'en Baked Apple

I’m not expecting too many — maybe no — trick-or-treaters this year. In an ordinary year the whole notion of going out in what usually turns out to be the first of yucky weather of the season to get an overload of junky candy always seemed preposterous to me, but maybe I’m just the Ebenezer Scrooge of Hallowe’en.

This year, during a pandemic, trick-or-treating sounds absolutely nuts.

I am hoping that parents throughout the country will at least take a year off and do something different this Hallowe’en.

Here’s one suggestion — what my parents did, back in the day when trick-or-treating wasn’t a thing.

First, we carved a pumpkin. My mother untangled the inside mess, separated the seeds and roasted them. It’s easy: rinse off the seeds, let them dry (use paper towels to dry them), place them in a small amount of olive or vegetable oil and toss them around, then put them single layer on a cookie sheet (parchment or foil lined helps with cleanup). Sprinkle with salt (herbs or blends such as curry powder or za’atar if you like) and roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are dry and crispy.

Second, my Dad placed coins in three apples (for three kids): one with a quarter, one with a dime and one with a nickel. He put them in a basin of water and we had to dunk our faces in the water and grab an apple with our teeth. One year he didn’t do the apple bobbing thing, he tied apples on strings on a line that he set up in our living room and we had to jump up and grab the apple with our teeth. Obviously the one who got the quarter was overjoyed and I realize that for today’s youngsters a nickel, dime or even a quarter may seem not worth it, but the bobbing or jumping is worth it. Good stuff for the memory bank.

Then we ate. I don’t remember any particular dish but I know it was likely to be baked macaroni. My mother always topped her mac-and-cheese with rice krispies. I tried that on my kids, who gave it a thumbs down, but I’m putting it out there for you anyway (click on the link).

My dad always made his famous hot chocolate.

Boy would I love some of that today.

Dessert? It was likely to be some apple thing my mother cooked up. So. How about some baked apples?

Baked Apples with Orange and Spices

• 4 large baking apples

• half a lemon

• 1/3-1/2 cup raisins

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 3/4 cup orange juice, apple juice or cider

• 6 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or coconut oil, cut into 4 pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples, then remove the core and seeds, leaving about 1/2-inch on the bottom. Peel the apples 1/2 of the way down from the stem end on top, then rub the cut surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the raisins, orange peel, 3 tablespoons of the juice and 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix the remaining juice, maple syrup and water and pour over the apples. Bake the apples for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 

Baked Apples with Date Honey

If you've never tried date honey, you've been missing something delicious in your life. I've been using it for years in all sorts of dishes from Rosh Hashanah Honey Cake to the Thanksgiving sweet potatoes.

It isn't bee honey. Date honey (known as Silan) is a syrup made from dates. It's thick and sweet like honey, but bee honey has more hints of spice, nuts or flowers, date honey is richer and more mellow.

I have tried several brands and like Date Lady* because of its smooth texture. Last summer, at the Fancy Food show I tasted the company's new California Date Syrup and absolutely loved it. The California syrup has a buttery taste, while the classic middle eastern variety is more molasses-y. Both are wonderful but I preferred the California syrup for delicate dishes such as baked apples and the bolder syrup for breads, cakes and muffins.

The California syrup works perfectly for baked apples, one of our traditional Rosh Hashanah desserts.

*I was not paid for this post. I just happen to love this product.

Baked Apples with Date Honey

• 4 baking apples
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup diced dried figs
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup date honey
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or small knife, leaving about 1/2" on the bottom.  Peel the apples halfway down from the top and place them in a baking dish. Mix the raisins, dates, orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg and date honey. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Mix the juice and water (plus extra sugar if desired) and pour over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings

Brown Sugar and Tangerine Baked Apples

On the first day of Hanukkah:

16 yellow bananas

10 golden pears

9 assorted apples

8 oranges and tangerines

6 ripe mangoes

4 quarts of strawberries

4 jewel-green kiwi

2 bunches of grapes

2 pecks of apples

1 large pineapple

is what I had in my house when the family came for the Thanksgiving-Hanukkah long weekend.

No partridge in a pear tree. But there was also a carton of kumquats for cooking not for eating out of hand.

Here’s what was left: 4 Cortland apples.

Here’s what I did with them: Brown Sugar and Tangerine Baked Apples.

Okay, I confess there was also one banana and a few grapes left.

Brown Sugar and Tangerine Baked Apples

4 large baking apples

half a lemon

3 tablespoons raisins

3 tablespoons dried cranberries

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup tangerine juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or small knife, leaving about 1/2” of the core on the bottom. Peel the apples halfway down from the top and rub the peeled surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish.  Mix the raisins, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Dot the tops of the apples with the coconut oil. Pour the juice in the pan around the apples. Bake for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 4 servings

Granola Baked Apples

There’s a bumper crop of apples in Connecticut this year. Business is booming, orchardists are breathing sighs of relief (last year was an apple disaster). I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled.

I hardly ever eat apples, except in the autumn when I get them at the local orchards and they taste like real food that’s been planted in real dirt.

So I’ve been eating apples for the past week.

And I have started my pie baking. Last week I took my annual trip to Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel to get 40 pounds of Rhode Island Greenings, my favorite apple for pie.

They also had some terrific looking Honeycrisps, just for eating out of hand. And some Macoun, which I like for applesauce. 

And of course, I bought Cortlands. They were big, beautiful and are the very best for Baked Apples of any kind. Like these:

Granola Baked Apples

6 baking apples such as Cortland

half a lemon

1/3 cup crushed granola cereal

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 chopped almonds

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup honey

4 teaspoons butter or margarine

3/4 cup apple cider or homestyle apple juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or small knife, leaving about 1/2” of the core on the bottom. Peel the apples halfway down from the top and rub the peeled surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish. Mix the granola, raisins, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and honey and stuff this mixture into the hollowed out cavities in the apples. Dot the tops of each apple with one teaspoon butter. Pour the cider into the baking dish. Bake the apples for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the apple cider, or until the apples are tender. If the fruit is darkening too quickly, place a small piece of tin foil on top during baking. Serve the apples warm or at room temperature. Makes 4 servings

Baked Apples with Dates, Cranberries and Nuts

It is colder in Connecticut today than it was when I was in Antarctica a few years ago. So I decided that before I venture out today, I would put on the silk long johns and tee shirts I bought when Ed and I took an adventure trip to that place at the cold, cold bottom of the world.

And think warm thoughts.

Like reading about Tu B’Shevat, a little known Jewish holiday that celebrates the budding of the first trees in Israel. The emergence of signs of spring.

What a lovely thought. 

On Tu B’Shevat (this year on January 26th) it is customary to eat fruit, an acknowledgment of earth’s bounty.

Like Baked Apples. Not just good to eat. They also warm up the kitchen and make your house smell divine.

Baked Apples

6 baking apples

half a lemon

3 tablespoons raisins or chopped dates

3 tablespoons dried cranberries or cherries

2 tablespoons finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup honey

1 cup orange or apple juice

1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or small knife, leaving about 1/2” on the bottom. Peel the apples halfway down from the top and rub the peeled surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish. Mix the raisins, cranberries, nuts, cinnamon, ginger and honey. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Pour the juice over the apples. Dot the tops with butter or coconut oil. Bake for 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 servings

Baked Apples with Raisins, Honey, Orange and Pistachios

Baked Apples with Raisins, Honey, Orange and Pistachioos

It’s apples and honey time. First, because those two ingredients are delicious symbols of Rosh Hashanah, which starts at sundown next Sunday.

But also because new crop apples are just beginning their season, and after months and months of mealy, dry, tasteless supermarket apples, we can finally find some that taste fresh, juicy and wonderful. Like maybe the kind that tempted Eve. 

And also because September is National Honey Month. Honey, too, is in a high season right now, especially in the Northeast.

So I was delighted to read an article in The Huffington Post that said honey has health benefits.

That means I am going to be terrifically healthy. I have several jars of honey in my pantry. That I keep replenishing because, well, I use a lot of honey.

Honey is so, so good, right from my fingers, as I scoop the remnants that remain on the outside as I close up the jar.

It also tastes really good poured onto ice cream, cereal and pancakes.

And it’s an incredibly useful ingredient in recipes for dessert, like honey cake and also in savory foods — like mixing it with apple juice to baste a turkey.

Honey as healthy?

Well, that’s just an added bonus.

When I read the article and it mentioned using honey to help with night time coughs I thought about where I had heard that before.

Oh yeah. My Mom. Ages ago, when I was a little girl and had a cold and she mixed honey into tea.

Some things never change, nor should they.

Here’s an old recipe that I can now say is healthy because it has honey. Also, fresh, new crop apples.

It’s also a wonderful treat for Rosh Hashanah or any other holiday or any day in the week.

BAKED APPLES WITH RAISINS, HONEY, ORANGE AND PISTACHIOS

• 4 large baking apples

• 6 tablespoons golden raisins

• 1/4 cup chopped pistachios

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 6 tablespoons honey

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into 4 pieces (or use coconut oil)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the cores, leaving about one-half inch at the bottom. Peel the apples about halfway down from the top. Place the apples in a baking dish. Mix the raisins, pistachios, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, 3 tablespoons honey and 3 tablespoons orange juice in a small bowl. Spoon equal amounts of this mixture into the hollowed apple cores. Combine the remaining honey, juice and water and pour over the apples. Dot the tops with butter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the apples are tender, basting occasionally with the pan juices.

Makes 4 servings