My lovely Aunt Jennifer has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness. On visiting her I was struck by her courage, stoicism and positivity despite all she has ahead of her. She was, whilst very thin, looking at her most glamorous, decked in a bright pink jumper, matching moccasins, and such fabulous animal print jeggings that I promptly checked the label and ordered myself a pair.

Jennifer has always been the biggest supporter of my recipes and blog. She subscribed from the very beginning, and made a point of contacting me every time she received a new recipe, to let me know if she’d tried and enjoyed it. Over the last few years whilst I’ve put it aside to focus on other projects she has regularly asked when I plan to post something new, saying she missed the updates.

So I made a promise to her last week that I would put up a recipe in her honour, and asked what kind of foods are appealing to her much reduced appetite right now.

She replied that she’s enjoying the sweet stuff (who doesn’t need a sugar boost at a time like this?) and softer more digestible foods are best.

Which brought to mind a hybrid recipe I put together inspired by various others for a casual supper with friends recently.

I wanted a pudding which brought tastes of bonfire night and Halloween.. warm, spicy, comforting. And these baked apples are just the thing. The filling oozes into a buttery caramel sauce whilst cooking and the pecan crumble adds a lovely nutty crunch. Incredibly simple to make and incredibly delicious to eat.

Jennifer, I hope you are able to make and enjoy these soon. X

Ingredients

For the apple filling

75g butter

25g soft brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

Pinch of salt

For the crumble topping

50g cold butter

50g oats

50g brown sugar

50g pecans

1 tsp ground mixed spice

Pinch of salt

For the Apples

Four juicy apples such as Pink Lady or Braeburn

175 ml water

2 tsp cornflour

Vanilla ice cream to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180

First make the filling for the apples. Melt the butter in a small pan on the stove or bowl in the microwave, then stir in the sugar, spices and salt. Put the bowl/pan into the freezer whilst you carry on, so the butter firms up a little.

Next add all the ingredients for the crumble topping to a mini food processor and pulse a few times until you have a nice crumbly mix. You can also do this by hand by chopping the butter and nuts, stirring together with the oats, sugar, salt and spices and then using your fingers to mix – breaking up the butter until you have a crumbly texture. Put this mixture into the fridge in a small bowl or the bowl of the mini chopper.

Cut the apples in half down the middle and use a small sharp knife and teaspoon (or a melon baller if you have one) to scoop out the cores in either side of the apple until you have a nice deep hole in each. Place them all into a baking dish.

Mix the cornflour with a little of the water in a measuring jug, then add the rest of the water and stir it together.

Take the butter and sugar mix out of the freezer, and fill each hole of the apples to the top – pouring any remaining mixture over the apples so it’s evenly distributed.

Pour the water and cornflour mix into the dish around the base of the apples, then cover it with foil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

When the time is up, take the dish out of the oven, remove the foil, and get the crumble mix out of the fridge. Cover each apple with a good heap of crumble mix, and return the dish, uncovered, to the oven for another 25-30 minutes, until the topping is golden and crispy.

Spoon the apples into individual bowls with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, stir together the buttery caramel sauce in the dish, and drizzle it over the apples and ice cream.

Dig in.