BAKED APPLE

WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT

an apple stuffed with dried fruits and caramel-rum sauce

Witcher's cuisine is not only about aromatic meats and filling stews. In the arsenal of sweet snacks from the game, the most common are fruits, fresh or dried, sweet rolls or nuts and caramels. It's nothing special, but every skilled host knows how to make an ideal dessert with these ingredients!

Simple sweets in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can also be a great way to thank a savior - an old woman from White Orchard came out with such an idea in the "A Frying Pan, Spick and Span" quest, who gives Geralt bread, juice and baked apples.

To prepare this dessert we traditionally used the elements that appear in Geralt's inventory. We also remembered about the alcohol touch - without it the Witcher’s universe would not be complete! Dried fruit and nuts as stuffing, a salted toffee sauce with alcohol and a spicy note move the common baked apple into a new dimension of quality!

SERVING: 4 portions

1. CARAMEL SAUCE
Add sugar to a saucepan with a thick and light bottom. Heat it moderatly and shake a saucepan to evenly melt it. When it's dissolved, reduce the fire to a minimum and control the color of the caramel. When it's intensely amber, add warmed whipping cream - beware, it will hiss like an angry wyvern! Vigorously mix it with a wooden spatula. At the beginning, caramel clumps will form, which will completely dissolve as they warm up. Cook the mixture over a low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Stir from time to time until the sauce is smooth. Then add alcohol (rum, vodka or nut liquor - you can also omit this ingredient), salt and spices. Mix everything and cook for a few minutes - the final consistency should resemble liquid honey and its color should be close to one of the toffee candies. Turn off the heat, add the soft butter and mix. Cool the sauce. When it reaches room temperature, the caramel thickens. In case it becomes too thick, you can add more cream or alcohol.

2. NUTS AND DRIED FRUIT
The nuts and dried fruits mix presented in the ingredients is just a suggestion - the types and proportions of nuts and fruits can be freely changed. Ready mixtures will also work.

Cut nuts and fruits into smaller pieces. Then put them in a bowl, add 2 teaspoons of caramel sauce and mix thoroughly. Set aside and go to the next point.

3. APPLES
Wash the apples and cut off the "hats" with a sharp knife (or possibly with the Witcher's sword) about 3/4 of the height - so that the petiole is held in the flesh. Pull out core with a knife by cutting a small circle and taking it out with all the seeds. Be careful not to break the apple through. It is good to help yourself with a spoon to remove unnecessary content.

4. STUFFING
Grease a deep baking mold with butter. Fill the core holes in apples with nuts and raisins and press them with a spoon to thoroughly fill the empty space. Cover the stuffed apples with cut off hats - try to match them exactly to the cutting line. Spread each apple on the surface with soft butter (preferably done it with your fingers).

5. BAKING
Put the form with apples into a preheated oven (170°C/325°F)  and bake for about 30-40 min depending on the size, type and maturity of the fruit. The apples are ready when their skin is slightly wrinkled. In addition, you can check their softness with fork and bake a little longer if necessary.

6. SERVING
Apples are best served immediately after baking. Each of them should be poured with a heavy portion caramel sauce.

After consuming, the apple regenerates 50 health points and regenerate the motivation to fight monsters.