Baked Apple Dessert

Baked Apples with Cherrie and Almonds
From The New Mayo Cookbook
Yield 6

1/3 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped almonds
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 small golden delicious apples
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons dark honey
2 teaspoons walnut or canola oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, toss together the cherries, almonds, wheat germ, brown sugar, and nutmeg until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside.
3. The apples can be left unpeeled, if you like. To peel the apples in a decorative fashion, with a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife, remove the peel from each apple in a circular motion, skipping every other row so that rows of peel alternate with rows of apple flesh. Working from the stem end, core each apple, stopping 3/4 inch from the bottom.
4. Divide the cherry mixture among the apples, pressing the mixture gently into each cavity.
5. Arrange the apples upright in a heavy ovenproof frying pan or a small baking dish just large enough to hold them (I put them in a tinfoil lined 13x9 and just made the foil edges around the apples). Pour the apple juice and water into the pan. Drizzle the honey and oil evenly over the apples, and cover the pan snugly with aluminum foil. Bake until the apples are tender when pierced with a knife, 50-60 minutes.
6. Transfer the apples to individual plates and drizzle with the pan juices. Serve warm or at room temperature. (I served them with vanilla ice cream, yum, yum!)

The story behind this recipe: I was looking for a good dessert that the kids and adults would like--this was a big hit! I made it when we had some friends over. In addition to serving it hot with some vanilla ice cream, we had hot apple cider tea. I felt pretty fancy--when our friends walked in the door, the warm house smelt like yummy apples! ~Tami