Shelly's Recipe

BAKED APPLES

Category: Fruit Desserts

6 large red delicious or other baking apples
1/2 cup raisins and walnuts
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup plus 2 tbsp red currant jelly
1 tbsp lemon juice or brandy
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp hot water

Preheat oven to 375 and butter a shallow casserole large enough to hold apples without crowding them. Core apples and peel upper 1/3rd of each one. Using a paring knife, score each apple 1/4 inch deep around perimeter where flesh and remaining skin meet; this score will give apples a place to expand without bursting. Using a paring knife, fashion top of apple into a crater about 1 1/2 inch wide. Take a very narrow slice off bottom of each apple so they can stand up without wobbling and set apples aside. Put raisins, walnuts, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon into a food processor and chop very fine. Put apples in baking dish, packing some of this mixture into each one.

In a small bowl, whisk 1 cup current jelly with 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp hot water. Spoon jelly mixture evenly into craters on top of each apple, spreading a little of it around peeled section. Bake for 45 minutes, then pour remaining 1/2 cup hot water into baking dish and bake for another 20 minutes or until a paring knife inserted at thickest point meets only gentle resistance. During last 15 minutes of baking, baste apples with pan juices every 5 minutes. Put an apple into each serving dish and scrape pan juice into a small bowl. Whisk in remaining 2 tbsp of jelly, then sauce top of each apple with liquid. Serve at any temperature.