Now we are not suggesting you go “scrumpying” – don’t want any Dabblers getting into trouble, but this is a fabulous time of year for apples so if you are lucky enough to have an apple tree (or an orchard!) what are you going to do with your wonderful harvest?
I came across a fabulous idea for using hollowed out apples as tealight holders – I love this idea and will have a try to see if there is a nice appley aroma that comes off. But Babs piped up that it would be a waste of good apples, so what to do?
Well, firstly to sort out the candles…..
Put your apples on a baking tray so that they are sitting up nicely. In a perfect world, all your apples would be symmetrical and perfectly round, but reality being what it is – and much more fun – some at least are bound to be slightly out of kilter, so by starting off with them level, you can see where the natural “top” of each one is.
Take a tealight and place it on the top and centre of each apple and trace a line on the apple. This will be your “cutting” line. Carefully cut around this line, making a small allowance so that your candle will sit easily inside, and scoop out the flesh and core of the apple. Make sure you don’t go too deeply into the apple though, roughly the same depth as your candle so that the wick sits proudly, like a stalk. Sprinkling the inside of your apples with lemon juice should stop them from going too brown. And that’s it! Easy peasy and just a bit different for a Halloween party or Harvest Festival even.
Next… what to do with the “leftovers”.
Obviously discard the core. With the apple flesh that you have left, put it in a pan with a little water a little sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 15 minutes (the time will depend on how mushy your apple bits are!) or until the apple has become nice and soft. Leave it to cool and then mash it until it’s as smooth or chunky as you want it to be.
Enjoy! M x
photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photo pin cc
