Manhattan Apples
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Core and pare a dozen apples.
Boil the apples in a syrup of 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, turning often until tender.
Boil down the syrup until it jellies.
Add a tumbler of currant jelly to the syrup.
The apples may be baked instead of boiled.
Assemble and serve
Lay a dozen rounds of sponge cake on a dish.
Place an apple on each round of sponge cake.
Pour the syrup over the apples.
When cold, place about 1 cup of sweet cream, well whipped, on the dish.
Ornament with maraschino cherries.
If served hot, keep the cream in a separate dish.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Sweet cream
- Adds rich, soft moisture and a mild sweetness that balances the tart syrup.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the syrup and helps the apples hold their shape as they cook.
- Currant jelly (in the method)
- Adds set and fruity tartness to the syrup as it cooks down.
The step that matters
Boil down the syrup until it jellies. Fruit pectin and sugar set only at the right concentration; undercooked syrup stays runny and soaks the sponge, while overcooking makes it stiff.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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