# Nigel Slater’s midweek treat: poached apples, maple syrup

2025-10-25

**Ingredients**

* 3 lemons
* 6-8 small apples
* 100ml maple syrup
* 5 cloves
* 1 short cinnamon stick
* 1 vanilla pod, split in half

**Method**

1. Squeeze the juice from 3 lemons into a baking dish and set aside.
2. Peel 6-8 small apples and drop them into the lemon juice to prevent
browning.
3. Add 100ml maple syrup, 5 cloves, 1 short cinnamon stick, and 1
vanilla pod split in half to the baking dish.
4. Heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4.
5. Bake the apples for about 50 minutes, testing for tenderness with a
metal skewer. Apples should be soft all the way through.
6. Optional: for a crisp element, prepare a sweet and salty brown
sugar crumble by beating together 100g demerara sugar, 100g butter,
and 1 tsp sea salt flakes. Mix in 75g jumbo oats and the same quantity
of plain flour. Crumble the mixture into small nuggets on a
parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until pale-biscuit
coloured. Let cool and transfer to a bowl.

Note: apples should be quite soft but still in one piece. Some varieties may
collapse if cooked too long.