Apples : Baked Apple Cups Are Well Worth the Wait

This apple dessert is a bit time-consuming to make but well worth the effort. It tastes amazingly rich to be so low in calories and cholesterol.

The secret to this “great impostor” is using melted vanilla ice milk as the sauce instead of a classic creme anglaise, which is made with egg yolks.

BAKED APPLE CUPS

4 Golden Delicious apples, cored and halved lengthwise

Julienned zest and juice of 2 large lemons

3 tablespoons sugar

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and julienned

2 cups vanilla ice milk, melted

Place Golden Delicious apples in baking dish, cut side up. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until easily pierced with fork. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

Place lemon zest in saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil. Boil 2 minutes then drain. Combine lemon juice with sugar and mix well. Add lemon zest and julienned apples. Mix well and set aside.

Make apple cups by carefully removing all but about 1/4 inch of pulp from skin of cooled apple halves. (Be careful not to tear skin.) Cut pulp in thin match-sized strips and combine with apple-lemon mixture and mix well.

Fill each apple cup with 1/2 cup apple mixture and pour any remaining juice evenly over each serving. Return to 350-degree oven 20 minutes, then place apple cups on large plate to cool. Pour any pan juices evenly over each serving. When cool, cover and refrigerate until cold.

To serve, place each apple cup on plate. Pour 1/4 cup melted ice milk over top of each cup. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains approximately 130 calories; 5 mg cholesterol; 2 gm fat; 28 mg sodium.

Jones is a food consultant and a cookbook author.