Blackberry Stuffed Baked Apples GF SCD

I strongly believe that the variety of fruits and vegetables growing on this planet were put here to help cure and prevent major disease. Now blackberries, for example, are little nutritional powerhouses and wild blackberries are high in Vitamin B17 which many believe can help in the fight against cancer. Most of the fruits and berries containing B17 are the sour ones - those that your grandparents used to eat when in season. They are the fruits least likely to be available easily, fruits such as quinces, wild crabapples, gooseberries and elderberries and if you're interested in finding out the other foods containing B17, check out the list here.

We allow the brambles to grow freely at the bottom of our garden but this year the crop has been poor. However, there have been enough to have a few each day and I fortunately managed to pick enough for this recipe today. Simple to make, these baked apples are awesome with vanilla cashew cream or any other kind of cream you like.

I hoped to be able to use some of the apples from our tree but they're not just quite ready to pick yet. The type of apple you choose will alter the cooking time of the dish. Cooking apples will bake in a much shorter time than eating apples so bear that in mind. The ones above are eating apples but great cooking apples too.

Blackberry Stuffed Baked Apples GF SCD

4 apples
250 g blackberries
240ml (1 cup) or more fresh orange juice
50 g flaked almonds
4 tblsps honey or maple syrup
Set the oven to 160° C (fan/convection oven) or about 180° C in an ordinary one. Wash the fruit and core the apples. Cut away some more from the centre leaving a generous space for the stuffing, the more you take away from the middle the less time the apples take to cook.

Score a line around the circumference of each apple to prevent the apple from expanding and bursting out of its skin while cooking.

Mix the honey or maple syrup into the blackberries and almonds.

Stand the apple in a dish just big enough for the number of apples you are cooking and stuff the centre of the apples with about half of the blackberry and almond mixture.

Pour the fresh orange juice over the top and into the bottom of the dish, the apples should be sitting in liquid so add more if you are using a large dish.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven, occasionally lifting the foil off the top and basting the apples with the juice.

After about 30 to 40 minutes the apples will have softened. Tip in the rest of the blackberries and almonds.

Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes with the foil off continuing to baste the fruit. If the apples are still not fully cooked put the foil back on the top and bake until soft.

Enjoy on their own or with your choice of cream.