MÁLAGA WINE IS A SWEET SECRET

Stuffed apples are baked in sweet Málaga wine.

I’ve got a sweet secret ingredient hiding in my wine cellar. It is Málaga dulce,  sweet wine, a dark nectar that tastes like liquid raisins. Made from muscatel and Pedro Ximenez grapes that are sun-dried before vinification, it is a gorgeous dessert wine. It also goes well with toasted nuts and with salty aperitifs such as sliced sausage.

Málaga wine, a sweet nectar.

Málaga wine makes a superb cooking wine, adding both sweetness and fruitiness to a dish. Baste a roast chicken with it or pour it over sliced sweet potatoes before baking.

The natural raisiny, figgy flavor of sweet Málaga is a natural with baked apples stuffed with nuts and figs. The wine turns syrupy, glazing the apples. This is an easy dessert that can bake alongside a roast for a lovely winter’s dinner.

Apples are stuffed with figs and walnuts, baked in sweet wine.

Manzanas Rellenas Asadas con Vino de Málaga
Stuffed Apples Baked with Málaga Wine

Use any favorite apple variety. Firm Granny Smith apples keep their shape best. Fujis add a spicy touch. The baked apples are good served with a dollop of creamy Greek yogurt.

Serves 6.

Stuffed and ready to bake.

6 apples
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
½ cup chopped dried figs
Grated orange zest
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Grating of fresh nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
2/3 cup sweet Málaga wine
1/3 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Peel a strip around the stem of the apples. Use an apple corer, melon baller or spoon to scoop out core and seeds. Set the apples in a baking pan.

In a small bowl combine the walnuts, figs, zest, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Fill the hollows of the apples with the fig mixture. Pour over the wine and the boiling water.

Bake until apples are tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 ¼ hours. Remove the apples from the oven two or three times during baking and spoon the wine juice over them.

Serve hot or cold.

Wine becomes a sweet syrup for the baked apples.