So, this week, I’m going to share a recipe for baked apple that’s re-imagined put into my bread. Now you can enjoy these baked apples by themselves don’t get me wrong they’re absolutely fabulous. But I like to take it to another level and put it into my bread. Kind of like you would do a cinnamon raisin bread this is going to be a cinnamon apple raisin bread. And of course, when I bake the apples in the oven, I do add a little bit of wine for that extra complexity and flavor.

Choosing either brown sugar or honey or even maple syrup to sweeten them can also make a difference. For this particular dish, I am using a light brown sugar and 2013 Renaissance by Reyes Muscat.  It shows in this wine instead of going with a port or dessert wine because I don’t want the flavors to fight each other. Maple syrup is delicious on top of baked apples, but it’ll make this dish too sweet. I also didn’t add butter, if I did, it would make the bread to wet. Now, the dough will be a sticky one, so when it is done rising and before you bake it, you will add a little bench flour.

The whole I used was a blend of 10 grains. It is one of my favorite flours. It is a blend of spelt, millet, rye flakes, barley flakes, quinoa flakes, chia seed, amaranth, teff, buckwheat, and sorghum. Regular whole wheat will work, but if you can get this blend, I would. It makes bread magnificent!

Now let me talk wine, I am pairing my apples and this bread with 2013 Renaissance by Reyes Muscat. This would be perfect if you had chicken salad sandwich on the bread, scrambled eggs and toast, roast turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich, or even make a bread pudding with the bread.

This delightful wine has aromas of peach and honeysuckle. Your taste buds will be fancied by the taste of honey, orange blossoms, and Eureka lemons. It won a bronze medal from the 2019 San Francisco International Wine Competition. It pairs well with this bread served with brie cheese with a drizzle of orange blossom honey. Also seared scallops with a twist of lemon and toast the bread until its nice a crispy to dip in the sauce.

Until June 1, all Renaissance by Reyes Wines including this one, are on sale. Save 15% off with this online code MemorialDay.

 

Baked Apples

Ingredients

• 1 apple, diced (I used a Sugarbee, but a tart apple is best)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp cardamom
• ¼ tsp salt, kosher
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp 2013 Renaissance by Reyes Muscat
• 1 tbsp butter, unsalted (if just eating the apple and not adding it to the bread)

Bread Ingredients

• 3 ¼ cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur Premium Super 10 Blend)
• 1 tsp salt, kosher
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 ¾ cups warm water
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup flame raisins
• ½ cup of baked apples without the juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Core and chop the apples, leaving the skins on.
3. Toss the apples with the cardamom, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar.
4. Spray non-stick spray in a baking dish, spread the apples out evenly.
5. Sprinkle the 2013 Renaissance by Reyes Muscat on top of the apples. If you were just eating the apples, I would add the unsalted butter to the top of the apples.
6. Bake the apples for 20 minutes, until they’re fork tender and have concentrated some of their juice.
7. Set aside to cool.

***If you have a bread machine, use the dough cycle and add all the ingredients except the apples, raising and walnuts until your machine beeps for them to be added. Or…

1. Mix the flours, salt, yeast, and water in a large bowl. Stir, and then use your hands or a dough whisk to mix and form a sticky dough.
2. Work the dough just enough to incorporate all the flour.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature overnight, or for at least 8 hours; it’ll become bubbly and rise quite a bit, so use a large bowl.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and work in the roasted apples and nuts.
5. Place on parchment paper in a 3 ½ cast iron pan. I use a round shallow pan.
6. Preheat the oven to 475°F.
7. Let the dough rise in the pan for 30 minutes while the oven is preheating.
8. When the oven reaches 475°F, put the bread in, but turn the oven down to 350°F.
9. Leave the lid off and bake for 40-45 minutes.
10. Remove the bread from the oven, turn it out onto a rack, and cool before slicing.