Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients
- 3 dessert apples
- 50g light soft brown sugar
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 3 to 4 sprigs of thyme or lemon thyme
- 25g butter
For the custard
- 300ml whole milk
- 200ml double cream
- 1 fresh vanilla pod
- 4 large Stonegate Organic egg yolks
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
Method
Start with the custard. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. Split open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife into the milk. Add the pod too. Heat the mixture to just below boiling, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.
Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together, then gradually pour over the hot milk and cream, whisking until smooth. Return the mixture to a clean pan. Cook gently, stirring all the time, until the custard thickens. Don’t let it boil or it may split. Remove from the heat, strain into a bowl or jug and cover the surface to stop a skin forming. Leave until cold, then chill.
Heat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan.
Halve the apples from top to bottom. There’s no need to peel or core them. Lay the apple halves, cut side up, on a double layer of baking parchment large enough to encase them in a parcel. Sprinkle the apples with the brown sugar and dot over the butter. Scatter over the thyme, add the lemon zest and juice, then fold the parchment over the apples to create a neatly sealed parcel. You can tie it with string to keep everything in place.
Set the parcel on a baking tray and place it in the middle of the oven. Bake for 20 to 40 minutes. The exact time will depend on the variety and size of the apples, so check them after 20 minutes and then every 5 to 10 minutes.
Open the parcel carefully and prod the apples with the tip of a knife to check that they are tender. If they’re not quite ready, rewrap them and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until cooked through.
Serve the apples hot alongside the cold custard, spooning over all the sweet, buttery juices from the parcel.
