OUR FAVOURITE RECIPES

This is a very simple, healthy dessert that is seldom served these days. It is quick and easy to prepare. Most commonly the filling is raisins and brown sugar but you can be creative and include dates, nuts, candied ginger, or other fruit. 

apples (one per person)
raisins, dates, walnuts (or any other fruit or treat you think might be good)
brown sugar & cinnamon
melted butter

Wash and core the apples. Set in greased baking dish. Put your choice of filling ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl mix brown sugar with some cinnamon (to taste) and drizzle with a small amount of melted butter. Set aside one third of the brown sugar mix. Combine the remainder with the filling mix. Spoon this into each apple packing filling down firmly. Sprinkle the brown sugar mix on top. Bake at 350F until tender but not mushy. Depending on the apples the time ranges from 20-30 minutes. You might want to add a small amount of water to the baking pan before baking.

Baked apples may have originated in the middle ages. Apples were suspended by strings over the hearth and roasted. When fully roasted they fell into a bowl of mulled wine which was set below them.
 

14th Century Apple Fritters

from the Form of Cury circa 1390 

The original recipe in Middle English (1125-1475 AD) reads:

"For to mak Fruturs: Nym flowre and eyryn and grynd peper and safronn and mak therto a batour and par aplyn and kyt brode and cast hem theryn and fry hem in batour wyth fresch grees and serve it forth."

In modern English the approximate translation is: "To make fritters, take flour and eggs and ground pepper and saffron and make of them a batter and pare apples and cut them into broad pennies, then cast them into the mixture and fry them in the batter with fresh grease and serve the dish forth."

Here is how the recipe might read today:

To make the batter combine eggs, flour, pepper, saffron, and salt and beat together well. Set aside. Core apples then peel and slice into rings (thick enough so they wont break when being fried. Beat the batter once more then dip each apple ring into the mixture. Allow excess batter to drip off before frying in a fairly hot skillet with several tablespoons of melted vegetable shortening or lard. Fry to golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and serve.

I got this recipe from the B.C. Fruit Testers Association. This Vancouver Island group brings together people with an interest in all sorts of fruit crops. Activities include such things as fruit field trips, variety exchanges and identification, plant sales, and workshops. This recipe has been adapted from a book called "Apples" by Peter Wynne. Since saffron can be expensive, I did not use it. Also I reduced the pepper to 1/8 tsp. After making the initial batch, I made a second one exchanging the pepper for cayenne and adding 1/8 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. In a third batch I removed the salt and pepper, kept the cinnamon and nutmeg and added 1/2 tsp. sugar. You can use butter, margarine, or olive oil for frying. I found these apple fritters were quite delicately flavoured. They could be served with breakfast or dinner (as a side dish with pork). Possibly with a bit more sugar the third batch could be served as a dessert with whipped cream.