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Apples Baked in Milk
6 apples 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons shortening 1 cup milk Pare and core apples. Sprinkle with flour, sugar and shortening, rubbed together. Pour over the milk and bake. Serves 6.
A plain invalid-cookery dessert from a section aimed at putting weight on thin patients. The original gives no oven temperature or time, so both need supplying.
- Oven and timeBake at 350F. Whole pared apples need 45 to 60 minutes depending on variety and size; they are done when a skewer meets no resistance at the core.
- The toppingRub the flour, sugar and shortening together to a coarse crumb, as for a streusel, then sprinkle it over and into the cored centres. Rubbed properly it thickens the milk into a light sauce rather than sitting on top as raw paste.
- Pour the milk around, not overPouring the milk -- The recipe says to pour the milk over the apples. Adding it down the side of the dish instead keeps the crumb drier on top, which helps it brown.
- Choose a baking appleA firm variety that holds its shape is wanted here: Rome, Braeburn, Golden Delicious. A soft dessert apple is liable to slump into the milk before the topping has browned.
- Dish sizeUse a baking dish just large enough to hold the six apples upright with a little space between them, so the cup of milk comes partway up the fruit rather than spreading into a thin film.
- ShorteningIn a cookbook of this kind the word may mean solid vegetable shortening, lard or butter. Butter works and tastes better; keep it cold so it rubs into crumbs.
- CurdlingMilk baked with acidic fruit at length will separate slightly at the edges. It is harmless and the flour helps hold it; evaporated milk or half cream resists it better and suits the nourishing intent of the section.