Baked Apples with Pecans and Maple Syrup

With our apple storer now replenished, we decided on a variation on the traditional baked apple using maple syrup and pecan nuts. The key to this recipe is the long, slow, very gentle cooking which helps the apples to keep their shape and produces a lovely nutty, syrup sauce.

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Method

While the oven is pre-heating, pop the pecans in on a roasting tray for 10 minutes to crisp up (but keep an eye on them they shouldn’t go too brown.

Meanwhile, wipe the apples and use a corer to remove the stalks and cores then with a paring knife make a small incision all round the waist of each apple.

Arrange them in a roasting tin, leaving some space between each one.Now chop up the crisped pecan nuts, fairly coarsely, and fill the centres of the apples with them. Scatter the rest of them around the apples, then drizzle a tablespoon of maple syrup into the centre of each apple and over the skins.

Drizzle the last tablespoon over the nuts on the base of the tin. Transfer the roasting tin to the centre of the oven, and cook for 1¼ hours until the apples are tender. Serve each apple with a spoonful of the syrupy nuts and a helping of custard (or cream or crème fraiche, it’s up to you).