Baked apples with brandy-soaked raisins recipe

This is a lovely and easy festive recipe and your home will be filled with the smells of cinnamon and cloves. Plump up the raisins in boiling water first then soak them in brandy. Any leftover fruit and liquid make a delicious syrupy sauce to pour over the baked apples. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

The easiest way to core and hollow out the apples without cutting all the way through is to uses a melon baller / Parisienne scoop. Simply scoop down as far as you need and remove some of the inner flesh of the apple (but not too much).

Recipe – makes 4 – 5 apples

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:1

Ingredients

4 large apples such as Golden Delicious or Pink Lady
1 cup of raisins & sultanas
¼ cup brandy
3 Tbs dark brown sugar plus extra to sprinkle
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup water
A few extra whole cloves
4 thick strips of orange peel
1 - 2 whole sticks of cinnamon optional and for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
Put your raisins in a bowl and cover them with boiling hot water.
Core the apples and hollow out some of the centers making sure you don’t cut all the way through. Go about ¾ of the way down.
Drain the raisins and add the brandy, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves and mix well. Fill the apples and gently press the filling down. Top up with some of the brandy liquid and place the apples in a small roasting dish with sides.
Add the orange peel, orange juice, water, and whole cloves to the pan with any remaining brandy/sugar mix. Sprinkle a little extra brown sugar on each apple and seal well with tin foil. Bake for 50minutew to one hour depending on the size of your apples.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and any syrup on the roasting pan drizzled over the top.

Author: Sam Linsell

More delicious raisin recipes:

Orange and pecan muffins

Fruitcake shortbread

Easy apple cake with raisins

Stout hot cross bun bread

Raisin & cinnamon sticky buns

Earl Grey tea loaf

Easy stout fruit cake

Rosemary seed & nut crackers

Muesli rusks with oats and raisins

Raisin pancakes with ricotta & orange