A baked apple is a dish consisting of an apple baked in an oven until it has become soft. The core is usually removed and the resulting cavity stuffed with sweet or savory fillings and seasonings. Pears and quinces may be prepared in the same way.
Baked apples are found in many European cuisines, including colonial ones. [1] [2] [3] [4] In Germany, baked apples are often served during the Christmas season.
The apples are cored, often not through the bottom, [5] and sometimes peeled halfway down to prevent bursting. [6]
The cavity is filled with seasonings and sometimes other fillings.
Seasonings may include sweeteners such as brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or fruit preserves; [7] spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, aniseed, and mace; butter; and liquids such as brandy, calvados, or wine. [8]
Fillings may be fresh or dried fruits such as raisins, dates, prunes, oatmeal, as well as nuts such as pistachios [8] or walnuts, which are typical in Bulgaria; [9] the Bosnian dish tufahije is also stuffed with walnuts, but is poached rather than baked; marzipan is sometimes used in Germany. Many recipes include lemon juice for tartness. [6] [10]
The apples are then baked until soft.
Baked apples can also be a savory dish, used as a side dish for roasts, or standing on their own, stuffed with sausage or mincemeat. [7]
A black cap is a kind of baked apple cut in two crosswise, cored, filled with lemon rind and candied orange peel or orange marmalade, reassembled, and baked with wine and sugar. The oven is started very hot to blacken the tops. [11]
Baked apples may be baked until dry to make them suitable for storage. In the cuisine of Norfolk, England, a biffin or beefing is an apple which is baked between a weight, to flatten it into a cake, and a layer of straw, to absorb moisture, and usually made from the Norfolk Biffin cultivar. [12] It is typically served with cream after the skin is removed. [13]
A baked apple wrapped in a pastry crust is an apple dumpling.
Baked apples may be served with custard sauce, crème fraîche, sour cream, ice cream, heavy cream, and so on. [6]
Polish cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other national cuisines. Polish cooking in other cultures is often referred to as à la polonaise.
Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut, ground meat, mushrooms, fruits, and/or berries. Savory pierogi are often served with a topping of sour cream, fried onions, or both.
Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".
Romanian cuisine is a diverse blend of different dishes from several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been influenced mainly by Turkish but also a series of European cuisines in particular from the Balkan Peninsula and Hungarian cuisine as well as culinary elements stemming from the cuisines of Central Europe.
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.
Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, in the sense of the rough area of former Ottoman Syria. The cuisine has similarities with Egyptian cuisine, North African cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. It is particularly known for its meze spreads of hot and cold dishes, most notably among them ful medames, hummus, tabbouleh and baba ghanoush, accompanied by bread.
Kalduny or kolduny are dumplings stuffed with meat, mushrooms or other ingredients, made in Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish cuisines, akin to the Polish pierogi, Russian pelmeni and the Ukrainian varenyky.
Tatar cuisine is primarily the cuisine of the Volga Tatars, who live in Tatarstan, Russia, and surrounding areas.
An apple dumpling is a baked or boiled pastry-wrapped apple. To prepare apple dumplings, apples are peeled, cored and sometimes quartered and placed on a portion of dough. The hole from the core may be filled with cinnamon, butter and sugar and sometimes dried fruit such as raisins, sultanas, or currants. The dough is folded over the apples and sealed. Sometimes a spiced sauce is poured over the dumplings which are then baked until tender; the sugar and butter create a sweet sauce. Apple dumplings can be served hot, cold, or room temperature for breakfast, dessert, or as a main dish.
Afghan cuisine is influenced by Persian, Central Asian, and South Asian cuisines due to Afghanistan's close proximity and cultural ties. The cuisine is halal and mainly based on mutton, beef, poultry and fish with rice and Afghan bread. Accompanying these are common vegetables and dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, whey, and fresh and dried fruits such as apples, apricots, grapes, bananas, oranges, plums, pomegranates, sweet melons, and raisins. The diet of most Afghans revolves around rice-based dishes, while various forms of naan are consumed with most meals. Tea is generally consumed daily in large quantities, and is a major part of hospitality. The culinary specialties reflect the nation's ethnic and geographic diversity. The national dish of Afghanistan is Kabuli palaw, a rice dish cooked with raisins, carrots, nuts, and lamb or beef.
Israeli cuisine primarily comprises dishes brought from the Jewish diaspora, and has more recently been defined by the development of a notable fusion cuisine characterized by the mixing of Jewish cuisine and Arab cuisine. It also blends together the culinary traditions of the various diaspora groups, namely those of Middle Eastern Jews with roots in Southwest Asia and North Africa, Sephardi Jews from Iberia, and Ashkenazi Jews from Central and Eastern Europe.
The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other Mediterranean cultures while retaining its own identity. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. The Sardinian cuisine is considered part of the Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model that was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.
Arab Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Middle Eastern cuisine with local Indonesian-style cuisine. Arab Indonesians brought their legacy of Arab cuisine—originally from Hadhramaut, Hejaz, Sudan and Egypt—and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients. The Arabs arrived in the Nusantara archipelago to trade and spread Islam. In Java, since the 18th century AD, most of Arab traders settled on the north coast and diffuse with indigenous, thus affecting the local cuisine culture, especially in the use of goat and mutton meat as well as ghee in cooking.
