Sweet fruit

In my scientific quest to find the perfect winter dessert, I am trying to find recipes, cooking the desserts and (most importantly) tasting them. This week's dessert: the good old-fashioned caramel apples!

Ingredients:

4 fresh/sour apples (that will stay standing in the heat)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

50 gr (1/3 cup) (caster)sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

75 gr (1/2 cup) sultanas (white or golden raisins)

2 tablespoons apricot jam/jelly or marmalade

1 baking dish

Pre-heat oven at 200 Celsius or about 375 Fahrenheit

Preparing:

1. Peel the apples and take out apple core. Make sure they can stand up, if need be, slice the bottom until they are straight. Sprinkle with lemon juice (or roll through).

2. Mix sugar with cinnamon powder and roll apples through. Stand in oven dish.

3. Fill the apple hole with the sultanas (welled in water or even better: rum), push down to get them all in. Cover with the jam/jelly or marmalade.

4. Use any remaining sugar/cinnamon mix to sprinkle over the apples, covering both the apples as the bottom of the dish.

5. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. If the apples get too dark cover them with aluminum foil.

6. Serve hot with its own caramel juice.

It's easy to make smaller portions: just half the ingredients and off you go! I made two apples and they were really good. They are easy to prepare and very tasty in their simplicity. Mmmm....