Baked Caramel Apples with Peanut Crumble
- Sweet
- Stovetop
- Oven
Tender baked apple halves glazed with caramel and butter, finished with toasted peanuts and a spoon of cream. A warm, dense autumn dessert that comes together on one tray.
- Total
- 55 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 35 · Rest 5
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Basting · Toasting spices
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 190°C. Halve the apples through the stem and scoop out the core with a knife, leaving the skin on so the halves hold their shape.
~10 min
Leaving the skin on keeps the halves intact, because the skin acts as a natural casing that stops the softened flesh from collapsing.
Choose firm apples that hold their shape in the oven; soft varieties collapse into the glaze before they are tender at the centre.
-
Arrange the apple halves cut side up in a baking dish. Melt 20 g butter and brush it over the cut surfaces, then sprinkle with 30 g sugar and the pinch of salt.
~5 min
Butter and sugar on the exposed cut face encourage browning and a light glaze as the surface moisture evaporates in the oven.
-
Bake until the apples are tender when pierced with a knife at the thickest part, 30 to 35 minutes, basting once with the juices in the dish halfway through.
~35 min
Basting re-coats the flesh with hot buttery juices so the surface stays moist and takes on colour instead of drying out.
Basting Spoon the hot pan juices over the apples quickly and close the oven door; basting too often or with cold liquid cools the oven and slows cooking.
-
While step 3 cooks
While the apples bake, roughly chop the peanuts. Toast them in a dry small saucepan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then tip onto a plate.
~4 min
Toasting drives off moisture and triggers Maillard browning, deepening the nutty flavour; tipping them out stops carry-over cooking.
Toast the peanuts only until they smell nutty: they keep cooking in the hot pan, so pull them out while still pale golden.
Toasting spices Use a dry pan over medium heat and keep the nuts moving; pull them while still pale golden, as residual heat finishes the browning.
-
While step 3 cooks
In the same saucepan, warm the caramel with the remaining 20 g butter and 30 g sugar over low heat, stirring until glossy and pourable, about 3 minutes. Do not let it boil.
~3 min
Gentle heat melts the caramel and butter into a smooth emulsion; boiling would split it or drive it past the point of pourability.
-
Spoon the warm caramel glaze over the baked apples, scatter the toasted peanuts on top and let the dish stand 5 minutes so the glaze sets slightly. Serve with the cream poured over at the table.
~5 min
Standing lets the warm glaze cool and thicken so it clings to the apples rather than running straight off.
