{{Short description|Culinary dish}} {{see also|Cooking of apples}} {{distinguish|text=''Rubus chamaemorus'', sometimes called bakeapple}}thumb|A baked apple stuffed with raisins and nuts A '''baked apple''' is a dish consisting of an apple baked in an oven, until it becomes soft. The core is usually removed and the resulting cavity is stuffed with sweet or savory fillings and seasonings. Pears and quinces may be prepared in the same way.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
Baked apples are found in many European cuisines, including colonial ones.<ref>Jill and Simon Coombe, ''Great British Puddings'', {{isbn|1448148987}}, 2012, ''n.p.''</ref><ref>Patrick André, ''Desserts de tradition'', {{isbn|2844164048}}, p. 62</ref><ref>Mrs. H. Graham Smith, ''Honey Recipes for the Australian Housewife'', 1937, p. 8</ref><ref>Charles Hebbert ''et al.'', ''Hungary'', Rough Guides, 2002, {{isbn|1858289173}}, p. 41</ref> In Germany, baked apples are often served during the Christmas season.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
==Preparation== The apples are cored, often not through the bottom,<ref name="wapo">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/chat-leftovers-baked-apples/2013/10/16/a5ee3e32-35f4-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story.html|title=Chat Leftovers: Baked apples|last=Touzalin|first=Jane|date=October 16, 2013|newspaper=Washington Post|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref> and sometimes peeled halfway down to prevent bursting.<ref name="greenspan"/>
The cavity is filled with seasonings and sometimes other fillings.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
Seasonings may include sweeteners such as brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or fruit preserves;<ref name="clark">Melissa Clark, "In Search of the Perfect Baked Apple", ''The New York Times'', [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/dining/in-search-of-the-perfect-baked-apple.html December 3, 2003]</ref> spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, aniseed, and mace; butter; and liquids such as brandy, calvados, or wine.<ref name="saveur">Baked Apples with Calvados, ''Saveur'', [https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Baked-Apples-with-Calvados/ January 22, 2007]</ref>
Fillings may be fresh or dried fruits such as raisins, dates, prunes, oatmeal, as well as nuts such as pistachios<ref name="saveur"/> or walnuts, which are typical in Bulgaria;<ref>Mike Benayoun, "Bulgaria: Pechani Yabalki", ''196 flavors'' [https://www.196flavors.com/bulgaria-pecheni-yabalki/]</ref> the Bosnian dish ''tufahije'' is also stuffed with walnuts, but is poached rather than baked; marzipan is sometimes used in Germany. Many recipes include lemon juice for tartness.<ref name="greenspan"/><ref>''Twentieth Century Cook Book, an Up-to-date and Skillful Preparation on the Art of Cooking and Modern Candy Making Simplified'', 1921, "Baked Apples with Dates", [https://books.google.com/books?id=FPEqAAAAYAAJ&dq=baked%20apple%20%20sugar%20nutmeg&pg=PA105 p. 105]</ref>
The apples are then baked until soft.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
==Variations==
Baked apples can also be a savory dish, used as a side dish for roasts, or standing on their own, stuffed with sausage or mincemeat.<ref name="clark"/>
{{anchor|Black cap}}A '''black cap''' is a kind of baked apple cut in two crosswise, cored, filled with lemon rind and candied orange peel or orange marmalade, reassembled, and baked with wine and sugar. The oven is started very hot to blacken the tops.<ref>"Black Caps par Excellence", Eliza Acton, ''Modern Cookery, in All Its Branches'', 1845, [https://archive.org/details/moderncookeryin00actogoog/page/n563 p. 531]</ref>
Baked apples may be baked until dry to make them suitable for storage. In the cuisine of Norfolk, England, a ''biffin'' or ''beefing'' is an apple which is baked between a weight, to flatten it into a cake, and a layer of straw, to absorb moisture, and usually made from the Norfolk Biffin cultivar.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', [https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/18797 ''s.v.'' 'biffin']</ref> It is typically served with cream after the skin is removed.<ref>"Norfolk Dried Biffins", ''The Foods of England Project'' [https://www.foodsofengland.info/norfolkbiffins.html]</ref>
A baked apple wrapped in a pastry crust is an apple dumpling.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
===Bratapfel=== 300px|thumb|right|Bratäpfel '''German baked apples''' ({{langx|de|Bratapfel}}) are a German dish of baked apples traditionally made with the Dutch Belle de Boskoop apple.<ref name=spruce/> They can be prepared with many different fillings and are a common Christmas dish.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boone |first1=Mary |title=Midwestern Recipes |date=15 September 2011 |publisher=Mitchell Lane Publishers |isbn=9781612281650 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcWXBgAAQBAJ&dq=bratapfel+christmas&pg=PA36}}</ref> Often they are served with vanilla custard.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heinzelmann |first1=Ursula |title=Food Culture in Germany |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313344947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhapoF1nfwQC}}</ref>
Apples are the most widely grown fruit in Germany, used to prepare many dishes and beverages in German cuisine.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baked Apples with Marzipan and Cranberry |url=https://germanfoods.org/recipes/baked-apples-with-marzipan-and-cranberry/}}</ref> Apples were the only locally grown fruit in Germany that kept during the winter months, which made baked apples an economical choice for holiday desserts in the Christmas traditions of Germany or as a sweet main dish in cold weather.<ref name=spruce>{{cite web |title=German Baked Apples (Bratapfeln) |website=The Spruce Eats |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/german-baked-apples-recipe-bratapfeln-1446797}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The World Religions Cookbook |date=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORy2aVD7cEgC&pg=PA63 |page=63|isbn=9780313342639 }}</ref>
To prepare, the whole apples once cored can be stuffed with assorted fillings made from chopped almonds, marzipan, raisins, rum, butter, lemon juice, sugar, spices and other ingredients. Some versions are baked in a baking dish with white wine and honey and baked until tender. They are usually served with vanilla custard or ice cream.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60068798/bratapfel/ Baked Apples Offer a Taste of Germany]</ref> Apples can be baked on top of a wood stove or in the oven in round enamel cast iron dishes called "apple schnitzers". The dish has a spike in the center that cooks the cored apple from the inside out. Schnitzers may be a German invention, no longer widely used in Germany, but still found among Amish communities in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baking Apples in a Schnitzer |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=November 6, 2009 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/baking-apples-in-a-schnitzer-72219342/}}</ref>
==Serving== Baked apples may be served with custard sauce, crème fraîche, sour cream, ice cream, heavy cream, and so on.<ref name="greenspan">Dorrie Greenspan, "For pure coziness, nothing beats the soft sweetness of a baked apple", ''Denver Post'', [https://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/10/baked-apple-recipe/ October 10, 2016]</ref>
==See also== * Apple sauce, sometimes made by baking * Apple chips, dried apple slices * Apple dumplings, a similar dish where the apples are wrapped in pastry * Tufahije, a traditional Bosnian dessert * List of apple dishes
{{portal|Food}} ==Notes== <references/>
Category:European cuisine Category:Fruit desserts Category:Apple desserts