What do you do when you’ve cooked something and it’s a disaster?
Well, sometimes there’s nothing you can do. Once the souffle falls, there’s no puffing it up again.
But more often than not there are some remedies.
Like the baked apple in the photo. It doesn’t look like a baked apple at all, but that’s how it started out. I had baked nut-crusted apples before but when I made these I lost track of time and left them in the oven too long. They tasted wonderful but didn’t look so good. And so, I made Baked Apple Parfaits with the remaining ones.
And that’s what everyone thought dessert was supposed to be.
Ain’t that grand?
Nut Crusted Baked Apple Parfaits
4 large baking apples
half a lemon
1-1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons chopped dates
2 tablespoons chopped dried figs
2 teaspoons butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pistachios
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons apricot jam
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup cream
6 tablespoons Mascarpone cheese
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples, peel them about halfway down and remove the core with an apple corer or small knife, leaving about 1/2” on the bottom. Place the core and peel in a small saucepan with the water. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain the liquid and set it aside. Put the apples in a baking dish. Brush the peeled apple surfaces with the melted butter. Mix the brown sugar, raisins, dates and figs and stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Top each stuffed hollow with equal amounts of the cut butter. Combine the almonds, lemon peel, jam and sugar and press the mixture onto the tops of the apples. Pour the reserved water into the baking dish. Bake the apples for 45-60 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Remove the apples to a cutting board and let them cool. Cut the apples into bite size pieces and place the pieces with some of the stuffing and some of the nut crust into 4-6 parfait glasses or dessert dishes. Stir the cream into the baking pan fluids, reserve about 2 tablespoons and spoon equal amounts of the remaining fluid over each parfait. Mix the 2 reserved tablespoons of fluid with the Mascarpone cheese and garnish each parfait with some of the cheese.
Makes 4-6 servings