Anna Louise Baked apples are the pudding that requires the least work of anything in this collection and that gives one of the most specifically satisfying results.
A large Bramley apple, cored, filled with a mixture of dried fruit, dark brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and a little orange zest, baked in a low oven until completely tender — the filling bubbling and caramelising slightly inside the apple — and served with warm custard or a generous spoonful of clotted cream. That is the whole recipe.
I make baked apples throughout autumn and winter when Bramleys are at their peak — as a quick weeknight pudding when something warm is needed, as an informal Sunday lunch dessert.
The pudding I make when I want something that is simultaneously effortless and genuinely wonderful. The preparation takes ten minutes. The oven does everything else.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Baked Apples (Serves 4)
For the Baked Apples
- 4 large Bramley apples — wiped clean, cored with an apple corer, scored around the equator
For the Filling
- 50g soft dark brown sugar
- 50g unsalted butter, softened
- 75g mixed dried fruit — sultanas, raisins, and currants
- 25g dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots — gives colour and slight tartness
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground mixed spice
- Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange
- 2 tbsp honey — drizzled over the top of each filled apple
To Serve
- Warm pouring custard — always
- Or clotted cream
- Or a generous spoonful of crème fraîche
How to Make Mary Berry Baked Apples
Step 1 — Preheat and Prepare the Apples
Preheat your oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4.
Wipe the apples clean. Using an apple corer, remove the core from each apple — working from the top down and making a clean cavity approximately 3–4cm in diameter. Do not push through the base of the apple — leave a thin layer of apple flesh at the bottom to hold the filling in.
Score the skin around the equator of each apple with a sharp knife — a single, shallow cut around the middle. This is the step that prevents the skin from splitting.
Place the prepared apples in a snug-fitting ovenproof dish — they should be close together but not touching.
Step 2 — Make the Filling
Mix the dark brown sugar, softened butter, mixed dried fruit, dried cranberries or apricots, cinnamon, mixed spice, and orange zest together in a small bowl until combined. The mixture will be slightly sticky and fragrant.
Step 3 — Fill and Bake
Divide the filling between the four cored apples — pressing it firmly into the cavity and piling it slightly above the top of each apple. Drizzle honey generously over the top of each filled apple.
Add two to three tablespoons of water to the base of the baking dish — this creates steam during baking and prevents the apple juices from burning on the base of the dish.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until each apple is completely tender when pierced with a skewer — the flesh should yield without resistance — and the filling is bubbling, slightly caramelised, and deeply fragrant.
Serve immediately with warm custard.
My Top Tips For Perfect Mary Berry Baked Apples
Score the skin around the equator — always. Unscored apple skin cannot expand evenly as the apple bakes and the flesh swells. The result is an apple that splits along one side in an uncontrolled way, losing some of its filling and its shape. A single shallow score around the middle allows the apple to expand evenly and gives the characteristic rounded, attractive shape of a properly baked apple.
Use Bramley apples. Bramleys collapse slightly as they bake — the flesh becoming soft, slightly fluffy, and deeply fragrant. This is the specifically baked apple texture that no eating apple quite replicates. Eating apples can be used but they give a firmer, slightly less yielding result.
Pack the filling generously above the rim of each apple. The filling reduces and settles during baking. A conservatively filled apple gives an apple with an almost empty cavity when it comes out of the oven. A generously filled apple — mounded slightly above the core hole — gives a properly, generously filled apple.
Add water to the base of the dish. The natural juice from the apples, combined with the butter and sugar from the filling, can burn on the base of the dish during the forty-five minutes of baking. Two to three tablespoons of water at the base prevents this and gives a slightly syrupy pool of apple juice and caramelised filling that can be spooned over the apples when serving.
The syrupy juices in the base of the dish are a sauce. The apple juice, honey, butter, and sugar that accumulate in the base of the dish during baking reduce to a slightly sticky, intensely flavoured sauce. Spoon it over each apple when serving alongside the custard.
Serving Suggestions
With warm pouring custard — the most natural and most satisfying pairing. With clotted cream for something richer. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream — the cold ice cream against the warm apple and the slightly sticky filling is completely wonderful.
How to Store Mary Berry Baked Apples
Baked apples are best eaten immediately. They can be refrigerated and reheated in a 160°C oven for fifteen minutes, but they are significantly better fresh from the oven.
The filling can be prepared ahead. Mix the filling and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Fill and bake the apples fresh on the day.
Mary Berry Baked Apples Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4. Core apples — leaving base intact. Score skin around the equator. Place in ovenproof dish.
- Mix dark brown sugar, softened butter, dried fruit, cranberries or apricots, cinnamon, mixed spice, and orange zest until combined.
- Divide filling between apples — press firmly into cavity, mound slightly above the top. Drizzle honey generously over each apple.
- Add 2–3 tbsp water to base of dish. Bake 35–45 minutes until completely tender when pierced and filling is bubbling and caramelised.
- Spoon the syrupy base juices over each apple. Serve immediately with warm custard.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add nuts to the filling?
Yes — 25g of roughly chopped walnuts or pecans added to the filling give a pleasant crunch and a slightly bitter contrast to the sweet fruit. Particularly good with the dark brown sugar and cinnamon.
Can I use maple syrup instead of honey?
Yes — maple syrup gives a slightly smokier, slightly more complex sweetness. Use the same quantity.
Can I stuff the apples with marzipan?
Yes — a cylinder of marzipan fitted into the cavity of each apple gives a completely different but entirely wonderful result. The marzipan melts slightly during baking and gives a sweet, fragrant almond filling that suits Bramley apple beautifully.
Can I bake these in advance and reheat?
Yes — bake, cool, and refrigerate. Reheat at 160°C for fifteen minutes. The texture is slightly less dramatically yielding than freshly baked but still very good.
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