9/22/13

Video Attempt: Baked Apples with Crème Anglaise


Just when you think we've put together a semi-normal cooking video...Matt goes missing. TO BE CONTINUED!

Baked Apples with Crème Anglaise via The River Cottage Family Cookbook
For the crème anglaise:
Makes enough for 6-8 apples

1 cup whole milk
1 cup half and half
Vanilla bean or vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Pour the milk and cream into the saucepan and set it over medium heat. If you’re using a vanilla bean, slit it lengthwise and add it to the milk mixture. Stir from time to time until the milk starts to steam. Switch off the heat.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl for about a minute, until they’re thick and pale. Pour the hot milk into the eggy mixture and whisk again gently for just a few seconds. Pour everything back into the saucepan and set over low heat. Stir all the time with the wooden spoon.

From time to time, lift the spoon out of the mixture and inspect the back. If the mixture runs straight off the spoon and leaves it quite clean, then you need to keep stirring. As the mixture gets hotter and hotter, it’s vital that you keep stirring. And make sure to keep the heat on low.

When the mixture coating the back of the spoon starts to look creamier, run your finger down the length of the spoon. If the line you make stays clear and distinct, the custard is ready.  Take it off the heat and stir it for another minute or two to encourage it to cool down. Stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you’re using it instead of the vanilla bean.

Strain the custard through a sieve into a clean bowl. Pour over your apples once they’re ready!

For the baked apples:
Unsalted butter
Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, 1 per person
Soft brown or granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F. Smear a little butter over the inside of the baking dish you’re going to use. (You want your baking dish to be big enough that the apples fit in one layer with a tad bit of space in between.)

Carefully cut a line completely around the waist of each apple to give it sort of a thin belt. (This stops the apple from exploding as the flesh expands in the heat of the oven!)

Core the apples. (We actually had an apple corer, though I’m sure you could do this with a regular knife.) Either way, you want to be left with a cylindrical hole right through the middle of the apple. Cut a small slice off the bottom too so that it will sit in the baking dish without wobbling. Stand the apples in the dish slightly apart from each other, so they don’t join up while they cook.

Pour sugar into the well of each apple right up to the top. Dot a generous knob of butter on top of the sugar. Spoon a tablespoonful of water for each apple into the base of the dish.

Place the dish in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes. The apples should be puffy and the skin a little split. (After 35 minutes, ours didn’t look very puffy nor the skin split, but almost the second we pulled them from the oven completely they did.)

19 comments:

Matthew said...

WHAT DID THE NOTE SAY? I need to know thx.

Sara said...

Haha! Btw, what's that song at the very end? It's great!

penelope said...

This would make for such a neat dessert for entertaining. Everyone gets their own apple!

Matthew said...

Thx, Sara! Our awesome friend Rick/Wesafari does all our music, that end bit was a super cool guitar piece they wrote for us :-)

http://www.subtidalstudios.com/

Wicked Goodies said...

Haha! Very suspenseful. Thanks for reminding me what I could do with all of these apples that are piling up here. Baked apples, so easy and good. I'm going to skip the crème anglaise and stuff them with raisins, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup then pour cream over them at the end. Mmmm.

Katherine said...

If Matt hadn't commented on this video, I was going to call the police. (Or your grandma--not sure who would have been more effective in an emergency situation, and thankfully I didn't have to decide.)

Terry said...

Great video, as always. You make me happy when I see a new video from you guys since I know you will make me smile, even if I don't want to. And now, where is Matt?
Also, a really good, quick cheat on the creme anglaise is to just let some great vanilla ice cream melt and call it creme anglaise. No one will know you didn't make it, and probably safer for the baby with lightly cooked eggs in the real thing.

Mark and Marsha said...

We're worried about Matt. Will he get his apple while it is still warm? It looks delicious.

kelsey said...

Belly!! :)

Shelley said...

Could you pour this delicious cream on something else (cake?). I don't like apples.

Sincerely,
Eve

Amelia Morris said...

hahahhaaa!

Amelia Morris said...

Ha! I know, can't really hide it anymore! :)

Amelia Morris said...

Totally! You can pour it over any fruit or crumble. The Family Cookbook says some sliced bananas in a bowl with creme anglaise and yogurt is a real delight. We have a bunch leftover so I think I just might try this!

Amelia Morris said...

Aww, thanks, Terry. Glad we make you smile! As for Matt, I saw him this morning at breakfast, so I think we're good. :)

Ami O said...

I love your blog. The recipes are wonderful and the videos are very inviting and well done. Your sense of humor is fabulous. I love when your mom learned you were pregnant.... very sweet.

I wonder if you have time to take a peek at my blog. I am a newbie and trying to find my way.

http://feedyourfeelings.blogspot.com/

I would love to hear your suggestions.

Mary Anne said...

hahahaha YES!! Even more excited the next video than i usually am! Where would Matt GO!?!?!?!?

sara said...

1. You are still tiny.

2. Those apples look divine.

3. I can't wait to see what happened to Matt!

Amelia Morris said...

calling a pregnant person tiny is about the nicest compliment in the whole world. Thanks, Sara!!!

Ashley Blom said...

Yum! I love baked apples this time of year!