Samhain Baked Apples with Blackberries

 Apples and blackberries belong naturally to the darkening days around Samhain. These whole baked apples are filled with a soft, nutty blackberry mixture, then cooked slowly until the skins wrinkle and the fruit becomes tender. They feel celebratory without being elaborate and make a lovely alternative to novelty Halloween baking.

Ingredients

4 medium firm eating apples, such as Cox, Braeburn or Egremont Russet
150 g blackberries, fresh or frozen
35 g rolled oats
30 g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons light muscovado sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Finely grated zest of ½ unwaxed orange
20 g butter, softened, plus a little for the dish
2 teaspoons runny honey or maple syrup
100 ml cloudy apple juice or water
Custard, cream or thick yoghurt, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Lightly butter a baking dish that holds the apples fairly snugly.

Wash the apples and remove the cores, making a generous hollow about 3 cm wide but leaving the base intact. Score a shallow line around the middle of each apple so the skins can expand without splitting unpredictably.

Lightly crush half of the blackberries. Mix them with the oats, hazelnuts, sugar, cinnamon, orange zest and softened butter. Spoon the filling firmly into the apples and place them in the dish. Drizzle the honey over the tops.

Scatter the remaining blackberries around the apples and pour the apple juice into the base of the dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15–20 minutes, until a knife slips easily into the apple flesh but the fruit still holds its shape. Very large or particularly firm apples may need 5–10 minutes longer.

Rest for 5 minutes, then serve each apple with the blackberry juices from the dish and warm custard, cream or yoghurt.

Storage

Best served warm on the day they are made. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and eat within 2 days; reheat until piping hot.

Foraging & Safety Notes

If gathering wild blackberries, pick only fruit you can identify confidently, away from busy roads and sprayed ground. Wash well before use. Hazelnuts are a tree nut allergen; omit them and add another 25 g oats if necessary.