baked apples stuffed with sweet bleu cheese, figs, and honey

Cooked fruit of some sort was the most common dessert served at my grandmother’s house. There was almost always a jar of stewed prunes or cooked cherries, made from the cherries we’d pick from the tree out back, in the fridge. Baked apples were also a predictable find.

They were good.

These are better.

The key to fabulous baked apples is to start with sweet, flavorful apples. I made some yesterday, thinking it would be a good way to use up some apples that had been in the back of the fruit bin for too long. Although not spoiled, the apples had lost all of their apple-y goodness. The results were very lack-luster. So I made them again, today.

Of course, stuffing them will result in a more interesting dish than just baking them whole the way Grandma did. My original plan was to use pecans, but my pecans were…um…walking. Very disturbing when inanimate items start walking. I went with the cashews, which were motionless, as nuts should be. Any nuts will do, but I think softer varieties, such as pecans or cashews will give the best texture.

Choosing the right bleu cheese is important. Go for a sweet, creamy bleu, rather than a sharp, crumbly one.

If you’re one of those people who can’t abide bleu cheese, a creamy chèvre works beautifully as well.

Stuffing the apples before baking them resulted in the cheese over-cooking so that it pretty much melted into nothing. Stuffing them after baking left the stuffing…well…raw and cold. I found the best method was to par-bake the apples and then stuff them mid-way through. This method also allows you to baste the apples while they’re baking, which will give them more flavor. The use of whole spices keeps the syrup nice and clear. If you don’t mind it looking cloudy you can use ground. Use just a little.

Ingredients:

• 4 large, flavorful apples (I used ambrosia gold)

• 4 ounces creamy bleu cheese (such as a sweet gorgonzola)

• ⅓ cup diced dried figs (hard bits of stem removed)

• ¼ cup chopped pecans or cashews

• 2 tablespoons honey (or more to taste)

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• ¼ cup white wine

• ¾ cup apple juice, cider, or white grape juice

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or more to taste)

• 1 cinnamon stick

• a small piece of whole nutmeg

• a couple of cloves and/or allspice berries

Method:

• In a small bowl, use the back of a fork to mash the bleu cheese with the honey to blend. Then taste the cheese and add more honey if you think it needs it—the amount will vary according to the cheese you use.

• Mix in the figs and nuts.

• Using an apple corer, a melon baller, or a sharp-edged spoon, cut out the stem end of the apples and hollow them out, being sure to remove all of the hard core and the seeds.

• Make the hole a little wider, to accommodate the filling, but be sure to not cut through the bottom of the apples.

• You now have two options: either use a vegetable peeler to remove the top third of the skin from the apples, or leave the skin intact and use the sharp tip of a paring knife to make a thin, shallow cut, all around the midline of the apple. This is to keep the apples from exploding in the oven—not a pretty event.

• Arrange the apples in a baking dish that’s just big enough to hold all them, with a little space between.

• Brush a little melted butter on the outsides of the apples and also generously brush the hollows of the apples with the butter.

• Combine the wine, the juice, the brown sugar, and the spices in a large glass measuring cup or other microwave-safe container. Heat them in the microwave until the mixture is hot and the sugar is dissolved. The time will vary depending upon the power of your microwave. (You could also do this in a small saucepan.) When they’re well combined, stir and taste. You want it to taste sweet, so that it can cook down into a syrup. If necessary, stir in and dissolve a little more sugar.

• Pour the liquid into the bottom of the baking dish, around the apples. Then cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and slide it into the oven. Bake the apples for 45 minutes, taking them out every 15 minutes to baste them with the liquid, spooning some into the hollow, then re-covering the dish with the foil.

• After 45 minutes, remove the foil and take the dish out of the oven.

• Fill the hollows with the stuffing and then spoon some more of the basting liquid over the top. Return the dish to the oven and bake, uncovered, for another 15 minutes. Then test the apples with a fork. You want them to be tender enough to eat with a spoon, but not turning to mush. If they need more time, return them to the oven and continue to bake them, testing for doneness every 10 minutes or so.

  Baked apples are delicious any way you serve them—warm (my favorite), cold, or room temperature. Plate them into shallow bowls and drizzle some of the basting liquid over the tops, letting it run down into the bowl.

  For dessert, consider topping them with some vanilla flavored whipped cream or a soft custard sauce. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is also very nice.

  For breakfast, a generous serving of yogurt—plain or vanilla—turns these apples into a complete and satisfying meal.