Comforting baked whole apples incredibly tasty as they are flavored with only Two ingredients: brown sugar and saffron. A delight.
The French just love whole baked apples. So quick and easy to prepare, the perfect rustic home cooking recipe.
Here is how to perfectly bake whole apples pommes au four as we do in France
- Which apple? Choose the right apple variety. Baked apples should stay intact and maintain their shape when baked but be soft enough to eat with a spoon. Gala and Fuji apples for example. Quantity is 1 apple per person
- How to prepare apple? I choose not to peel them, thus apples need to be organic. Hollow out apples, remove the core and seeds while keeping the bottom of the apple intact.
- How to flavor baked apples? Customize possibilities are extremely wide. Fill each apple with something sweet ( about 1 teaspoon of sweetener per apple either a liquid or granulated sweetener, for example, brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple sugar, maple syrup, or honey), some spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, cardamom, ginger…), and some butter. You may give a twist with nuts and grains. Some just pour a teaspoon of jam into each apple.
- A slice of bread? Some place a slice of country bread under each apple. Up to you.
- Bake in the oven Bake in the oven with a bit of water in the dish at medium temperature. It’s better to have a longer time with lower heat.
The recipe here is quite simple, no butter but a small teaspoon of brown sugar in each apple and water in which saffron has infused. 1 pistil (thus 3 stigmas / filaments per apple). That’s all.
Oven Baked Apples Flavored with Saffron
Comforting baked whole apples incredibly tasty as they are flavored with only Two ingredients: brown sugar and saffron. A French homecooking classic.
Ingredients
- 4 apples
- 4 tea spoon brown sugar or muscovado sugar or coconut sugar
- 4 saffron pistils 12 stigmas / filaments
- 2 glasses water + more if needed while baking
Instructions
FIRST READ THE MAIN STEPS OF THE RECIPE
- Infuse saffron in 1 glass of warm water for 30 minutes. Hollow out the apples, pour in sugar and saffron water and bake in the oven.
recipe
- Pour warm water in a small glass. Add the saffron pistils and let it infuse for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 160°C/320°F.
- Hollow out apples, remove the core and seeds while keeping the bottom of the apple intact so that the liquid does not drain.
- Place a teaspoon of sugar in each apple and fill the hole with saffron infused water, making sure each apple has 1 pistil / 3 stigmas / filaments of saffron.
- Pour the second glass of water into the bottom of the dish.
- Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of your apples, until the inside is soft through.
Notes
Serve baked apples when still warm.
Did you make this recipe? I want to see!Tag @zestoffrance on any social media or leave a rating & comment!