Baked Apples with Meringue

Einat Admony/Jewish Food Society, Friends of Saturday Night Seder

 

INGREDIENTS:

For the Apples:

  • 6 Granny Smith apples

  • ½ lemon

  • ¾ cup raw pecans, roughly chopped

  • ¾ cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped

  • ¼ cup dates, pitted and roughly chopped 

  • ¼ red raisins

  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  • 2 teaspoon silan (natural date syrup) or honey

  • ⅓ teaspoon white hawaij (Yemenite spice mixture), can be found at a market like Kalustyans.com. 

For the Meringue:

  • ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

  • 4 egg whites

  • ½ cup granulated sugar

  • Zest of 1 lemon




DIRECTIONS

Makes: 6 servings

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking tray with a neutral oil such as canola or grapeseed oil.

  2. Using an apple corer or a sharp knife, remove the core of the apples by cutting a cone from the top of each apple. With a teaspoon or a melon baller, scoop out the seeds down to the bottom. 

  3. Peel a horizontal stripe around the circumference of the apple, 1 inch from the rim. This prevents the apple flesh from splitting. Rub the apple’s peeled surface with the lemon to prevent oxidation. 

  4. Mix pecans, walnuts, dates, raisins, cinnamon, silan, and white hawaij in a large bowl until combined well. 

  5. Place 3 generous tablespoons of the mixture into the cavity of each apple, creating a small mound on top.

  6. Place apples onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Return the tray to the oven and bake covered for another 30 minutes until the apples are cooked through and still hold their shape.

  7. Using a standing mixer, beat the egg whites and apple cider vinegar on low. Gently increase the speed, as the egg whites begin to foam, slowly add the sugar to the mixture increasing the speed to high as you go. Add the lemon zest to the mixture. Beat on high for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy, forming stiff peaks.

  8. Remove the apples from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.

  9. Place the meringue into a pastry bag and cut the tip of the pastry bag to form a 1/4 inch diameter. Pipe the meringue on top of each apple in a swirl shape. Transfer the baking tray with the meringue topped apples to the oven. Bake until meringue is a deep golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.


Courtesy of Chef Einat Admony and Jewish Food Society

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