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The delicious blend of berries and balsamic vinegar is a culinary super star. Balsamic baked with apples? Luscious!
Apples for dessert have probably been around since Eve tempted Adam. And who could fault him?! In my house growing up, no one could refuse my Mom’s apple pie. It was the best ever: crisp, tart apples with a layer of crunchy cinnamon-laced sugar just beneath a cross-hatch of flaky crust. Yumm.
It’s still hard for me to pass up apples for dessert. And being a short-cut cook of sorts, I find pie crusts a bit time-consuming.* So I developed this scrumptious twist on simple baked apples. Use a balsamic vinegar that is 6 percent acidity or less for these apples. Be aware though, not all balsamics are created equal. The flavor and quality varies. This recipe was also tested with Holland House brand balsamic vinegar.
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Berry Balsamic Baked Apples
Makes 6 desserts. Prep & bake time: 1 hour
| 3/4 | cup strawberry preserves or jam |
| (or raspberry, boysenberry, blackberry, or a combination) | |
| 1/2 | cup packed brown sugar |
| 1/4 | cup Barengo balsamic vinegar |
| 3 | tablespoons butter |
| 1/8 | teaspoon nutmeg |
| 6 | medium-size sweet apples (golden delicious, Fuji, |
| gala or cameo) | |
| Toasted pecans, coarsely chopped |
Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small saucepan, stir together preserves, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, butter and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Continue to cook 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
Core apples and peel the top third of each apple. Place in a baking dish and spoon sauce over and inside each apple. Bake uncovered 35 minutes.
Remove from oven and baste apples with sauce from bottom of dish. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until apples are tender when pierced with a knife.
Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. To serve, spoon sauce over each apple and sprinkle with pecans. Add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
An original recipe by Rita Held
* See Rosie’s short-cut pie crust recipe in our Kitchen Essentials tab (allow a minute or so to load).
Rita,
This looks yummy – can’t wait to try it.
JoAnn
Please let me know if you like it JoAnn. How was Sicilia? Do they use balsamic vinegar very often there?
That looks yummy–balsamic is a great idea. Thanks. Suzanne
So pretty!
and simple, too – do! thx
I’ve always loved berries and balsamic, but never tried it with apples – sounds really awesome, and also easy. Next time I’m at the farmer’s market, I’m going to get some apples and give it a try. Thanks, Rita!
These apples look so good! Am going to make these this week! The ice cream idea is INCREDIBLE! Fall is in the air! Thanks R and R!
I made these apples this past weekend, and they were absolutely delicious! Used raspberry jam, and topped off with whip cream since we didn’t have ice cream. Seb and I ate 2 apples a piece in one sitting they were so good! Anyways, very easy to throw together, and the 2 apples leftover were just as good the next day, heated up in individual ramekin dishes.
An original recipe?
http://www.mizkan.com/Recipes/?action=view&recipeID=325814727003
Yes. I developed the recipe for Holland House!