Now let’s cook
Baked Aport apples. In 1865 the gardener Yegor Redko brought saplings of this variety to Verny (now Almaty), and here the apples go into the oven whole.
Ingredients
- 1120 g Aport applesan apple variety known for its large size (the recipe needs four medium-sized apples of 280 g each, about 1.1 kg in all, and if Aport is not on sale, firm apples such as Granny Smith or Golden Delicious work)
- 50 g walnutsshelled walnuts, chopped roughly
- 50 g raisinsdried grapes
- 100 g brown sugarsoft brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamonready-ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp buttermade from cow’s milk
Method
Heat the oven to 180 °C. Take four medium-sized Aport apples. If Aport is not on sale, medium-sized firm apples with a sturdy skin will do, for example Granny Smith or Golden Delicious. Wash the apples, cut out the core without piercing the bottom, and score the skin all the way round the middle with a sharp knife so that the apple does not burst in the oven.
Chop the walnuts roughly. In a bowl, mix the walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Stand the apples in a dish with a little space between them. Pack the filling firmly into the hollows and put an equal piece of butter on top of each apple.
Pour a little warm water into the dish, enough to cover the bottom. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the apples are soft. If the apples are small, check them after 30 minutes.
Take the dish out and leave the apples in it for a few minutes. Serve warm.
