Baked Apples

Moderately tart apples or very juicy sweet ones are best for baking. Select ripe apples, free from imperfections, and of nearly equal size. Wipe carefully and remove the blossom ends. Water sufficient to cover the bottom of the baking-dish should be added if the fruit is not very juicy. If the apples are sour and quite firm, it is a good way to pare them before baking, and then place in an earthen pie-dish with a little hot water. If they incline to brown too quickly, cover the tops with a granite-ware pie-dish. If the sirup dries out, add a little more hot water. When done, set them away till nearly cold, then transfer to a glass dish, pour the sirup, which should be thick and amber colored, over them. Sour apples are excellent pared, cored, and baked with the centers filled with sugar, jelly, or a mixture of chopped raisins and dates. They should be put into a shallow earthen dish with water sufficient to cover the bottom, baked in a quick oven, and basted often with the sirup. Sweet apples are best baked without paring. Baked apples are usually served as a relish, but with a dressing of cream they make a most delicious dessert.

Citron Apples

Select a few tart apples of a uniform degree of hardness, and remove the cores. Unless the skins are very tender, it is better to pare them. Fit in a piece of apple large enough to fill one third of the lower part of the cavity; then fill the remainder with bits of chopped citron and sugar. If the skins have been removed, place the stuffed apples on a flat earthen dish with a tablespoonful of water in the bottom; cover closely, and bake till perfectly tender, but not till they have fallen to pieces. If the skins are left on, they may be baked without covering. When cold, serve in separate dishes, with or without a spoonful or two of whipped cream on each apple.

Lemon Apples

Prepare tart apples the same as for citron apples. Fill the cavities made by removing the cores with a mixture of grated lemon and sugar, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each apple; and bake. Serve with or without whipped cream.

Baked Pears

Hard pears make an excellent dessert when baked. Pare, halve, remove seeds, and place in a shallow earthen dish, with a cup of water to each two quarts of fruit. If the pears are sour, a little sugar may be added. Bake, closely covered, in a moderate oven until tender. Serve with or without sugar and cream. Tart pears are the best for baking, as the sweet varieties are often tasteless.

Baked Quinces

Pare and remove the cores. Fill the cavities with sugar, put in a shallow earthen dish, and add water to cover the bottom; bake till soft, basting often with the sirup. If the sirup dries out before the fruit is perfectly tender, add a little more hot water.

Baked Apple Sauce

Pare, core, and quarter apples to fill an earthen crock or deep pudding-dish, taking care to use apples of a uniform degree of hardness, and pieces of the same size. For two quarts of fruit thus prepared, add a cup of water, and if the apples are sour, a cup of sugar. Cover closely, and bake in a moderate oven several hours, or until of a dark red color.

Sweet apples and quinces in the proportion of two parts of apple to one of quince, baked in this way, are also good. Cut the apples into quarters, but slice the quinces much thinner, as they are more difficult to cook. Put a layer of quince on the bottom of the dish, alternating with a layer of apple, until the dish is full. Add cold water to half cover the fruit, and stew in the oven, well covered, without stirring, until tender.

Pears may be cooked in a similar way, and both apples and pears thus cooked may be canned while hot and kept for a long period.