Remember how I reviewed Clautiere Vineyard’s 2005 Port? Well if you do, which you should because it was literally the post before this one, than you’d recall that I gave a sneak peak into my favorite baked apple recipe, and now I’m going to do the big reveal.
Check out that dark glaze!
Tada!
My grandmother used to make me baked apples all the time, only she made them with Manischewitz wine, like all good Bubbe’s do. If you’re not familiar with Manishewitz, it’s a common staple in a Jewish home, oft seen at Shabbos dinners and Passover Seder tables. It’s a bright purple wine made from concord grape, yes, concord grape, and it’s sugary with an unpleasant burn. But in baked apples, it’s great! The wine shrivels up into a bright sweet jelly-like substance.
My late-grandmother
I decided, though, to add my own twist to Bubbe’s recipe, swapping Manishewitz for a chocaltatey port. I also added cinnamon and walnuts, which my grandmother didn’t include. The result was a much more savory-sweet dessert with a deep flavor, possibly from the nuts, which also add a nice crunch to the mushy apples. I wish I had vanilla ice cream to scoop alongside it. Mmmmm.
Ingredients:
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Port
- 4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut in half, length-wise
Directions:
Core apples and then cut them in half horizontally. Place them in a Pyrex pan. Scoop a small cube of butter into each hole. Sprinkle a little more than a teaspoon of sugar and a half-teaspoon of cinnamon into the holes, as well.
It’s OK to get sugar/cinnamon/butter on the peel.
Then pour the port, about a tablespoon and a half, into the holes. Lastly, cover up the holes with chopped nuts.
I forgot to take a picture after they were chopped!
Place the apples in the oven at 325 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.
You could also make these with a dry white wine. I’d just use white sugar instead of brown and skip the cinnamon. Red apples would work, too.
