Baked Apples in the Oven
The monastic cuisine has always been based on the seasonality of vegetables and fruits, harmoniously following the cycle of nature. On Mount Athos, next to the vegetable garden of each monastery, there are usually a few fruit trees that supply the trapezes of Mount Athos with seasonal fruit. Here is a recipe for the winter season for a monastery dessert that uses the beloved, crunchy apples that are in abundance cold months of the year. This is a light and fasting sweet with roasted, whole apples in the oven, stuffed with sugar, walnuts and cinnamon. Choose one of the healthiest desserts, as the fruit of apples is an excellent source of antioxidants and their skin is rich in valuable plant fibers. Make baked apples in the oven, this simple, hearty dessert, without much effort, with only a few ingredients from your household pantry.
We wash the apples, peel them and remove the pits with a special tool.
We put the apples in a pan and pour the liqueur inside.
We mix the walnuts well with the sugar and cinnamon and fill the apples with this mixture.
We bake the apples in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 1 hour, covered with aluminum foil.
A few minutes before taking them out of the oven, we sprinkle them with a little cognac.
We beat the vegetable cream with a mixer until it becomes whipped and leave it in the refrigerator to cool.
When the apples have cooled, we serve together with the whipped cream.
If we don't have the tool to remove the pits, we can use a sharp knife or a spoon.
The recipe can also be made with quinces or pears with the only difference being that we cut them into slices and put the walnut mixture at the end, when garnishing.
Source: The oil-free- Tahini-based recipes, edited by Gerontissa Fevronia abbess of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Prodomos of Serres.
