A mammoth undertaking

At this time of year, cooking apples seem to be pretty cheap and plentiful, and I’ve always enjoyed a baked apple for dessert. But I really can’t be bothered to wait for the oven to heat up and then bake an apple from scratch, especially not mid-week when my energy and patience are typically pretty limited. But then I remembered that years ago Chris used to do baked apples in the microwave, so I went digging through my cookbooks to find the recipe. It turned out to be buried deep within “Microwave Gourmet” by Barbara Kafka which seems to be out of print, but available second-hand from Amazon.

You’re meant to take a bramley cooking apple, score the skin round the equator (to stop it exploding) and core it. But I simply don’t have enough strength in my wrists to core it successfully, even with a so-called apple-corer. So I cut the apple in half along the equator then core each half separately with a sharp knife. Then put the cored apple (or half apples, cut-side up) into a microwaveable dish, preferably not touching the sides. Stuff the hole with mincemeat – I use about one teaspoonful per half apple. Then drizzle some maple syrup into the hole on top of the mincemeat. Then optionally pour a generous glug of brandy into the hole as well. I’ve been using up the last of the fig brandy I brought back from Dubrovnik last summer (it’s fierce stuff, and cooking with it is much better than drinking it neat!), but ordinary brandy would do too.

Then cover with cling film – making an airtight seal but not stretched too tightly over the apples. Microwave on full power for 2 mins 30 sec for one apple. According to the cookbook, 4 apples should take 4 min 45sec, and 6 apples should take 9 minutes. As soon as the microwave goes “ping”, pierce the clingfilm with a sharp knife to release the vacuum. I remember once that Chris neglected this vital step, as we were watching the TV and he thought he’d wait until the ad break. The clingfilm squashed the apples so flat, that they completely lost their shape and were little more than apple puree! Leave to rest for a few minutes (they will be very hot) and then serve with the hot syrup poured over the top. I like to add lashings of double cream at this point too! Absolutely delicious, and only takes minutes!