Sharing a very simple dessert recipe today – classic French baked apples.

It’s very simple because it’s basically baking the whole apple for an hour, but I made these apples with a twist. It was just before Christmas, so I added a bit of cinnamon and some very Christmassy spices – cloves and star anise. 

Apples are quite sweet when they’re cooked, so I’ve reduced the amount of sugar and used honey instead. To be sure we’re not adding too much sugar in our homemade desserts 😉

I love making desserts with fruits. It feels much healthier than having something like cake or pudding. But don’t get me wrong, I do love cakes, a lot 🍰

It takes about 50-60 minutes to cook the apples. I put them in the oven just before serving dinner. We enjoyed our meal, had a little chat over a glass of wine, then the apples were ready. 

Ingredients

2 apples 
25g unsalted butter  
1 tsp honey 
4 cloves (optional) 
1 star anise (optional) 
Ground cinnamon, to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the cinnamon, cloves, and star anise.

Set aside to release the flavour of spices. I usually do this when I start preparing dinner, to give it enough time to release the flavours. Add honey and stir well.

Wash apples and cut off the tops. Core them but do not cut them into pieces. 

Place the apples and tops on a baking tray, drizzle with melted butter and pour the excess into the baking tray as well. 

Bake the apples for 50-60 minutes. Remove from the oven halfway through baking, pour the syrup in the baking tray over apples and continue baking. 

Remove apples from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Pour the syrup from the pan over each apple and enjoy!

What’s your favourite fruit dessert? Share with me on Twitter and tag @dailyteaspoon or #dailyteaspoon!

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