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Apple Surprise
1 cup sugar 1 cup water juice 1 lemon 6 firm apples 2 bananas 1/2 cup grated pineapple Whipped cream Make syrup of sugar, water and lemon juice. Peel the apples and remove good-sized core space. Cook the apples in the syrup slowly, pan covered. Baste often and turn apples once. Mash the bananas, mixing with grated pineapple. Fill centers of apples with this mixture. Serve very cold with the syrup and whipped cream.
A poached-apple dessert dressed up for the breakfast table. The whole thing hinges on cooking the apples until tender but still standing, since they must hold a filling.
- Choose the apple"Firm" is doing real work here: a Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp or Northern Spy holds its shape in syrup, while McIntosh or Cortland collapse. Pick six of roughly equal size so they finish together.
- CoringRemove the core from the stem end with a melon baller or apple corer, stopping short of the base so the cavity holds the filling and syrup does not flood in. "Good-sized core space" is not defined in the recipe; a well of about an inch across is a reasonable reading.
- The syrup and the panOne cup sugar to one cup water is a plain 1:1 simple syrup; it will not thicken much while the apples cook. Use a wide sauté pan or Dutch oven that holds all six in one layer, lid on, over low heat so the liquid barely trembles.
- TimingExpect 20 to 30 minutes depending on size and variety. Test with a thin skewer at the thickest point; it should slide in with light resistance. Turn once at the halfway mark, as the recipe says, and baste so the exposed tops do not dry.
- Grated pineappleMost likely the canned product now sold as crushed pineapple, though the term could also mean pineapple grated fresh. Drain it well before mixing with the mashed banana, or the filling will be soupy.
- Fill cold, not hotLet the apples cool before filling. Banana browns and softens quickly against heat, and the dish is meant to be served very cold, so chill the apples in their syrup for at least two hours.
- Reducing the syrupAfter the apples come out, the poaching liquid can be simmered down by a third to a light glaze. Chill it separately and spoon over at the table.
- YieldSix apples, six servings. The filling is enough for six average cavities; a squeeze of extra lemon over the banana keeps it pale if you must hold it more than an hour.