Beyond the Blue Umbrella: Baked Apples.

I do have a sweet tooth. Sometimes it's worse than other times.

Last night I rushed home from the train carrying an Ikea bag full of paintings over one arm, and my leather school bag with five new books and countless readings over the other arm. Despite being completely aware that the house was vacant of 'treats', there was absolutely no way I was navigating the dinner rush in or local Waitrose as a 'wide-load'.

I get home from class on the later side, and I usually allow myself the evening to relax. I eat dinner, and then either work on the blog (as I'm doing now), or download an episode of something (shhh...don't tell!). I always have a cup of tea (yes, HOT and BRITISH), and a little something sweet.

There were no chocolate biscuits (yes, I have acquired a taste for those terrible things...just like Hugh Grant in Love Actually), or any of S's freshly baked cookies, so I decided to make a baked apple.

***Warning the following is not a precise recipe...don't get your hopes up!***

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl mix 1 tbsp of butter with a pinch or two of brown sugar, and a similar amount of white sugar (told you there was no precision), along with some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a handful of oats. Squish it together with your fingers. Yes, you're basically making an apple crisp topping. Set the mixture aside.

pre-squish

Take the core out of the centre of 1 apple. I cut a slice out of the bottom bit of the core and used it to plug the hole so that my filling didn't seep out the bottom.

Line a bread tin, or cookie sheet with foil, and place the hollowed out apple on it. Stuff the filling into the apple. If you carefully carve a flat ledge around the top portion of the hole, your 'stuffing' will overflow quite nicely on the top of the apple. Makes it look pretty!

Place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the apple is baked through.

I poured the apple juices back over the top of the apple to make sure none of the goodness escaped!

Add a dollop of creme fraiche, boil Kettle, make tea, download show, and dig in!