Apple-o'-Lanterns

Makes 4 filled apples and 16 cupcakes

Happy Halloween everyone!

The weather has turned and it is time for sweet, dense desserts, that will warm you to your toes, so that you will be prepared for all the spooky events.

I present to you a double recipe of gooey stuffed baked apples (they’re like steamed puddings in an apple) and pumpkin-apple cupcakes, with an extra recipe (because I’m extra nice) for Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum Caramel!

Muffin Recipe

• 4 apples
• 300g flour
• 300g sugar
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 300g cup pumpkin puree
• 120ml sunflower oil
• 75g cup grated apple (peeled and cored)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Chop the tops off the apples and core them, making a cupcake sized indent.
3. If you want to, carve out a jack-o-lantern face into the apple, being sure not to go all the way through to the hollow. 
4. Combine and sift the dry ingredients.
5. Combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil and apples and blend them together.
6. Preheat air fryer to 180°C.
7. Mix the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth.
8. Spoon the batter into the pre-prepared apples and place the ‘lids’ of the apples over the mixture.
9. Place the apples in the air fryer and cook for 20 minutes. I did test this in a standard oven, but it didn’t work at all. The cake batter stayed raw, even after 40 minutes.
10. Fill lined cupcake tin with the rest of the batter and bake for 20-25 minutes.
11. Remove from the appliances. If you have carved faces into your apples, you can emphasise the look with some food colouring on the tip of a toothpick. Paint in the carved features for a truly spooky look.
12. Serve the whole apples warm with rum caramel (recipe below) and ice cream. Allow the muffins to cool and serve with rum caramel (recipe below)

Rum Caramel

• 200g sugar
• 5 tbsp Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum
• 230ml cream (room temperature)
• 85g butter (cubed and room temperature)
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Put the sugar and rum in a heavy bottomed pan and stir over high heat until it is melted. Brush down the pan with water regularly to prevent burning. Stir occasionally.
2. When the sugar, rum mix has caramelised into a deep gold colour, add the cream. This will make the mixture bubble violently, so be careful and mix vigorously.
3. As soon as the cream has been combined, add the cubed butter and mix in.
4. As soon as the butter is melted, remove the pan from heat and add salt and vanilla. Mix.
5. Serve.

Serving Suggestions

Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum and Ginger Ale. 

https://courtneys.online/rum/g...