PF Advent Day 18: Microwave baked apples recipe

I’ve been promising this recipe for a while, and have finally got round to writing it up for you. It’s an easy recipe for making baked apples using a microwave and it’s great once the weather turns colder. Oh, and it counts as one of your five a day too.

This is a dessert I make on wintry days when I’m not using the main oven, as it saves on electricity. You will need a microwave-safe glass casserole dish to make this recipe, preferably one with a lid.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 dessert apples
• 2 dessert spoonfuls of raisins
• 1 heaped teaspoon of flaked almonds
• 1 heaped teaspoon of brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 15g butter

1. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, almonds and raisins together.

2.  Cut a wide cone shape out of the top of each apple, then remove as much of the core as you can without going through the bottom of the apple (the skin needs to stay intact in this area or the apples will go soggy). Prick a few tiny holes in the skin of the upper half of each apple, so it doesn’t split when it’s cooking in the microwave.

3. Put a quarter of the butter into the cavity in each apple, then press in as much of the fruit and nut mixture as you can. Put the remaining butter on top, then sprinkle with any leftover sugar.

4. Place in glass baking dish, and add 2cm depth of boiling water from a kettle around the outside of the fruit without splashing the filling in the middle. Put the lid on the dish.

5. Microwave on full power for 1 minute, then carefully check to see whether the apples are cooked by slightly squeezing one of them. If it needs more cooking, replace the lid and cook on full power for another 30 seconds and check again. You might need to cook for a further 30 seconds again after this, but most apples will be cooked in about 2 minutes or so.

6. Take apples out of the water with a slotted spoon, and move to serving bowls. If you like, you can add cream, custard or ice cream, but they’re quite nice served plain too.

How do you like them apples?