When: 10:38 AM today.
Where: The kitchen. Watching Greta Scacchi's slow seduction in Heat and Dust.
What: A plump Arkansas Black apple, baked with spices, walnuts, golden raisins, and lemon zest, gilded with heavy cream.
The Taste: Soft apple, sweet and tart, winey juices mingling with brown sugar and butter, delicately perfumed with Indonesian cassia, ginger and clove. Grated Meyer lemon zest intensifies ginger’s citrusy flavor. Walnuts add crunch.
The Bonus: Intoxicating fragrance of apple and spice warms every room of the house.
The Recipe: Blend 4 tablespoons sweet butter with 4 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Indonesian cassia (a.k.a. cinnamon), ½ teaspoon powdered ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. Add 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, 2 tablespoons golden raisins, grated zest of one Meyer lemon.
Core 4 Arkansas Black or other baking apples, removing seeds, stickery parts, and surrounding flesh. The hole should be about 1-inch wide. Stuff each apple with the butter and sugar blend, then insert a 3 or 4-inch cassia stick. Place the apples in a baking dish and pour 1 cup of apple cider around them.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until the apples are very soft to the touch. Serve warm with cider spooned over each apple. Drizzle with heavy cream, if you must.