Baked Apples with Bourbon-Soaked Raisins

(makes six servings)

When I think of comfort food, my mind conjures up an image of baked apples. I looked up the definition of “comfort food” on the internet, and there seem to be as many meanings as there are ways to make mac ’n cheese. The one that caught my eye is from the Free Dictionary. It reads, “Food that is simply prepared and associated with a sense of home or contentment”. Bingo – baked apples. This recipe comes from Rowan Jacobsen’s Apples of Uncommon Character. He recommends Rome apples, but if you can get your hands on Blue Pearmain, use those - they are hard to beat for baked apples. If you don’t have any bourbon handy, you can substitute rum or apple brandy. A word of warning before you decide that you want to make this recipe for dinner tonight: the raisins need to soak in the bourbon 8-12 hours if you really want to feel contented. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup pecans, chopped

  • ¾ cup bourbon-soaked raisins

  • zest and juice of one lemon

  • 6 Tbs butter, softened

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

  • pinch of nutmeg

  • 6 medium-large apples

  • 2/3 cup sweet cider

Directions:

  1. Place 1 cup of raisins in a glass jar. Add ¾ cup of bourbon. (Rum or apple brandy works too.) Put a lid on the jar, and store at room temperature for 8-12 hours before using in this recipe.

  2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast the pecans in the oven or toaster oven on a medium-low setting or in a dry, cast iron pan over medium-low heat until they are dark brown. Watch them carefully, and stir them often so they don’t burn. Cool.

  3. Combine all the ingredients except the apples and cider in a bowl. Mix so that the butter and sugar is distributed throughout the nuts and raisins.

  4. Core the apples - be careful to leave the bottom intact. Scoop out the seeds, and make a bowl-shaped cavity inside the apple. A melon-baller works well for this.

  5. Place the cored apples in a baking pan. Fill the cavities of each apple with the raisin-butter mix. Save any extra to add later during cooking. Pour the cider around the apples.

  6. Cover the baking pan with foil, and bake 40 minutes. Remove the foil, add any extra filling to the apple cavities, and bake 15-20 minutes more. Use a fork to test the apples for doneness. They are ready when the fork pushes easily into the flesh.

  7. Remove the apples from the oven, and cool for five minutes. Before serving, pour the cider sauce from the pan over the top of the apples.