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Honey Apples
6 medium-sized apples 6 tablespoons honey 6 teaspoons butter 1 cup hot water Pare, and core the apples; place in a dripping pan, and fill the center of each apple with one tablespoon of honey and one teaspoon of butter; add the cup of hot water; cover the pan, and set in a rather quick oven. When the boiling point is reached, reduce the heat, so that the apples will cook gently. Turn the apples occasionally; a few minutes before the baking is finished remove the cover, and let the apples brown slightly. Serve with whipped cream.
A straightforward baked apple, but the original leans on oven habits rather than numbers. The method is a covered braise first, then a brief uncovered browning.
- Oven temperature"A rather quick oven" is usually reckoned at about 375-400F. Start there to get the water in the pan bubbling, then drop to around 350F for the gentle cooking the recipe calls for.
- Dripping panThis is simply a shallow roasting or baking pan. Any baking dish that holds the apples snugly with a lid, or a sheet of foil, will do.
- Paring and coringThe apples are peeled entirely. Core from the stem end without cutting through the base, or the honey and butter will run out into the water.
- Choosing applesA firm baking apple such as Rome, Braeburn or Golden Delicious holds its shape through 40 minutes; McIntosh and similar soft varieties collapse into sauce.
- TimingPeeled medium apples take roughly 35 to 45 minutes total, depending on variety and size. They are done when a skewer slides in with no resistance at the thickest part.
- Turning themWith no skins, the exposed flesh dries where it sits above the liquid. Turning and spooning the pan syrup over the apples every ten minutes or so is what keeps them glossy rather than leathery.
- The browning stageUncover only for the last few minutes, as the recipe says. Honey scorches quickly once the steam escapes, so watch it rather than trusting the clock.
- YieldSix servings. Reduce the pan liquid on the stovetop for a minute or two if you want a thicker sauce to pour over the whipped cream.
Baked apples filled with sweetening are among the oldest of English and American puddings. Honey in place of sugar may reflect the food-reform view of refined sugar as suspect and honey as natural. Covering the pan with a little water so the fruit steams before it browns suited the uneven heat of wood and coal ranges, where an uncovered dish could blacken before the apple cooked through.