How to make Colm O'Gorman's seasonal baked apples - with hazelnut crumble and vanilla custard

Baked apples with crumbles and custard - a seasonal favourite

Autumn is perhaps my favourite season. I adore it. When the leaves start to fall and the days get shorter, I reach for familiar comforts. 

I love its bright sunny days when the air is cold and crisp, and my breath freezes as it leaves my lungs. 

I love wrapping up warm and cosy in a scarf and a winter coat. I even love wet and windy days when I get home and shake off the rain before nestling down in front of the fire with loved ones. 

I love the comfort of it all, the familiar acts of care that this season demands. 

I find myself getting very nostalgic at this time of year, it brings back lovely childhood memories like getting home from school to find a warm casserole cooking on the stove or a freshly baked apple tart warm from the oven.

I was thinking about food like that this week when picking the last of the apples from one of the trees in our garden. 

I picked half a dozen beautiful rosy red cooking apples and was thinking I might make a tart, but I was a little short on time and pastry was a bit of a stretch too far. 

Then I remembered the baked apples my mother used to make and realised with a pang of nostalgia that I had not eaten one for about forty years! So, I decided it was time to recreate her dessert and see if they tasted as good as I remembered.

Mam used to stuff her baked apples with butter, sugar, and sultanas, spiced with a little cinnamon. I decided to add some chopped hazelnuts to that basic recipe, and to then top off the apples with a hazelnut crumble to bring a little crunch and texture. 

The butter and sugar in the crumble and the stuffing combine beautifully with the juices of the apple to create a lovely caramelly sticky crumb in the base of the baking tray that is simply fabulous.

I served my baked apples on some homemade vanilla custard, which was lovely. 

Do not be daunted by the idea of making your own custard from scratch, it really is quite straightforward and tastes amazing with the apples and crumble. 

And reader, it was at least as good as I remembered!

Seasonal Baked Apples with Hazelnut Crumble and Vanilla Custard

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

A comfy and cosy favourite - and a great way to use apples in season!

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• Baked Apples:

• 50g cold butter

• 50g light soft brown sugar

• 40g sultanas

• 30g chopped hazelnuts

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 4 medium sized cooking apples

• Hazelnut Crumble:

• 35g cold butter

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• 2 tbsp light soft brown sugar

• 35g chopped hazelnuts

• Vanilla Custard:

• 4 egg yolks

• 500 ml full fat milk

• Seeds from 1 vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla essence

• 100g caster sugar

• 25g cornflour

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 190 Celsius for a fan oven, or 200 Celsius for a conventional oven.

2. While the oven is warming, prepare the apples. Begin by making the stuffing. Cut the butter into small cubes and pop it into a bowl along with the sugar, sultanas, chopped hazelnuts and cinnamon. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until they are well combined. Take care not to overwork the mixture, you just want to combine the butter through the other ingredients but not melt it with the heat from your hands.

3. Wash and core the apples. Stand them on one end in a large baking tray and stuff the centre of each apple with the butter, sugar, hazelnut, and spice mixture, leaving a little room towards the top of each cored apple for the crumble. Make sure to arrange the apples in the tray allowing enough distance between each to ensure they bake evenly, about 10cm space between each apple is perfect.

4. In another bowl, combine all the ingredients for the crumble. Use your fingertips to combine the ingredients until they have the consistency of rough breadcrumbs. Add a generous handful of the crumble to the top of each apple, scattering the remaining crumble over and around the fruit.

5. Pop the apples into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until they are just cooked through, and the crumble has turned crisp and golden. Use a small sharp knife or metal skewer to test if the apples are done. Slide it to the apple in gently, and if it passes though without much resistance, they are ready. Test the apples after 25 minutes, giving them the additional five minutes if needed.

6. While the apples are baking, prepare the custard. Begin by pouring 450ml of the milk in a pan, add the seeds from a vanilla pod, or half a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you prefer. Bring to a gentle simmer.

7. Add the last 50ml of milk to the egg yolks. Mix the caster sugar and cornflour together in a large bowl and add the milk and egg mixture. Whisk to a smooth paste. The milk should now be close to boiling, so take it off the heat and pour it slowly onto the egg mixture, stirring all the time. When the mixture is nice and smooth, strain it through a sieve back into a clean pan. Place the pan over a low heat and keep stirring until the custard thickens. It is ready when the custard coats the back of your spoon. Increase the heat a little until it comes close to a boil, stirring all the time and then reduce again to a simmer, still stirring, for another 3-4 minutes to cook out the cornflour.

8. To serve, spoon some of the warm custard into wide rimmed bowls. Place a baked apple on top of the custard, and spoon over some of the gorgeous caramelly baking juices and crumble. Serve immediately.