Easy, Elegant Desserts

Maple Baked Apple

Tuck the apples into the oven when you sit down to eat, and they will be ready to eat, piping hot, when you're done.

Ingredients:

1 lb. red-skinned cooking apples (Brae-burn apples are excellent.)
6 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup

Preparation:

Core the apples with a potato peeler by pushing the peeler through the center of the apple lengthwise, and then rotating it to create a circle. Twist several times, and the core will separate from the rest of the apple. Push it out.

Peel the top half of the apple and place in a baking dish. This prevents the apples from splitting or exploding in the oven.

Insert a tablespoon of butter in the center of each apple. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover the apples with all the syrup and bake in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Baste several times during the baking time.

Place a cooked apple in a stemmed cup and drizzle with syrup from the pan. Ice cream or whipped cream can be used as an accompaniment.

Ingredients:

6 macaroons
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 box instant vanilla pudding, prepared
frozen raspberries, thawed with juices
raspberry jelly to taste

Preparation:

Split macaroons in half and place a half piece in the bottom of a large goblet. Spoon raspberries over the cookie, then top with jelly.

Layer in pudding, then whipped cream. Repeat the layers of fruit, pudding and cream, finishing with other half of the cookie on top. Garnish with a raspberry.

Ingredients:

4-1/2 oz. white chocolate
4 Tbs. water
4 Tbs. vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
2 egg whites, beaten until stiff with a little cream of tartar
4 chocolate pastry shells
raspberries and other berries for garnish

Preparation:

Melt chocolate with water and extract in microwave, using 50 percent power. Take 1/3 of the whipped egg whites and add to the melted chocolate.

Fold in the remaining whites and whipped cream. Fill a large plastic bag with the mixture. Snip off one of the corners of the bag and pipe the mixture into the chocolate shells.

Garnish with raspberries or other fresh berries and a mint sprig.