Baked apples are hugely nostalgic for me. My mother would buy these from the local grocery van who stopped at our door on a Tuesday evening; usually three to a bag, their bumpy appearance often pocked with brown spots. A generous volume of brown sugar would be stuffed into each apple, before they were placed neatly on a white enamel dish, and disappeared into the depths of the oven where they would bubble and fill the kitchen with their sticky, sweet aroma. Mother didn’t use a timer as such in those days – they reappeared when we were ready for them. Quite often they’d be totally collapsed and gloriously soft (or on some occasions forgotten about and found days later!). There was always a warning before that first spoonful to watch as “it’ll be hot!”. Is there anything more scalding than molten sugar, i think not, and many tongues would inevitably be burnt. These were an almost fortnightly pudding in my eighties childhood as my dad loved them, still does, and nothing gives my daughter greater pleasure than skipping across the lawn with a tray of these for her favourite person.

You can sort of do whatever you want with baked apples which makes them incredibly easy to make at a moments notice. The following recipe is for 4 adults or 8 children. You will need:

• 4 big cooking apples
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• handful of currants
• lemon juice
• 4 knobs of unsalted butter

1. preheat your oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4
2. wash and core the apples carefully, leaving a few inches at the bottom intact so they are not hollow throughout
3. lightly grease a baking tray and place the apples on it
4. mix together the sugar and currants and stuff them into the centre of each apple
5. drizzle over the lemon juice and place a knob of butter onto the top of each apple
6. score with a sharp knife around the centre of each apple – this stops them bursting as they heat up
7. place in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, until you can see the apple has softened and the juice is coming out
8. leave to cool slightly

Serve with anything from yoghurt to mascarpone to thick vanilla ice cream.

And enjoy! x