Baked Apples

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unfiltered apple juice
• 2 tablespoons currants
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam
• 2 tablespoons toasted chopped almonds
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 medium apples, cored 2/3 of the way down and the top 1/3 peeled
• Crema, for serving (optional, recipe follows))

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring 2 tablespoons of the apple juice just to a simmer and remove from the heat. Add the currants, stir, and let them sit for 10 minutes to swell. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, stir together the apricot jam, almonds, and brown sugar. Add the currants with their juice and mix together well. Use this mixture to stuff the apples. Place them in a small roasting pan and place a dab of butter on the top of each. Pour the remaining 1 cup of apple juice into the pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tender but not split or mushy. Serve hot, with a dollop of crema, if desired.

• CREMA
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Whisk the cream and the buttermilk together in a bowl. Cover and set in a warm place (a gas oven with just the heat from the pilot light is fine) for 8 hours. Crema may be kept in the refrigerator for as long as a week.