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Baked apples with vanilla, butter and thyme
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Andrew Montgomery
Baked apples with vanilla, butter and thyme
Recipe by Gill Meller
Cooked on the bbq, this delicious dessert is best served with clotted cream or double cream
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minsTotal time:
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
202Kcal
Fat
11gr
Saturates
7gr
Carbs
24gr
Sugars
24gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
1gr
Salt
0gr
Gill Meller
Food writer and chef Gill Meller lives near Lyme Regis in Dorset with his wife and two daughters. He has worked with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage HQ for more than 10 years. His book, Gather (Quadrille, £25), was published in 2016.
See more of Gill Meller’s recipes
Gill Meller
Food writer and chef Gill Meller lives near Lyme Regis in Dorset with his wife and two daughters. He has worked with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage HQ for more than 10 years. His book, Gather (Quadrille, £25), was published in 2016.
See more of Gill Meller’s recipes
Ingredients
- 4 dessert apples, such as Pink Lady
- 50g soft unsalted butter
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 2 tbsp light soft brown sugar
- zest of ½ lemon
- a few small sprigs of thyme
Step by step
Get ahead
Make the flavoured butter the day before, and pack into a small container, ready to assemble the apple parcel.
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Halve the apples (I like to leave the core in). Lay them out over a double thickness sheet of foil that will be large enough to encase the apples when you put them in the fire.
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Place the butter in a bowl. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod and add to the butter along with the sugar and lemon zest and mix well. Dot a little of this sweet vanilla butter over the top of each apple. Top with the sprigs of thyme and throw in the split vanilla pod for good measure.
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Fold the foil over the apples to create a sealed parcel. Set the parcel in the hot embers of the fire and cook for 20-40 minutes or until the apples are tender to the point of a knife. Rotate the parcel occasionally to ensure the apples are cooking evenly. Alternatively, cook in the oven at 240°C, fan 220°C, gas 9.
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When the apples are cooked, serve them hot with cream and all the juices.