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Two Armagh Apples with a Cooley Mountain Whiskey Sauce

Source of Recipe

The Red Bank Restaurant, Skerries, Co. Dublin


Recipe Introduction

This delicious variation on the traditional baked apple is based on two Irish apple varieties, grown in the "apple county" of Armagh and served with a whiskey flavoured sauce. Local whiskey from the Cooley Mountains in Co. Louth is used, but any Irish whiskey will do in this dish which is harder to describe than to make! Ingredients are for one serving but, if scaling up the servings at home, the sauce would serve at least two.

List of Ingredients

* 1 red apple (John o'Gold)
* 1 green apple (Bramley)
* 15g (½ oz) butter
* 1Ú3 cinnamon stick
* 3 cloves
* 15g (½ oz) sugar
* 1 teasp. honey
* Sauce ingredients:
* 3 egg yolks
* 40g (1½ oz) caster sugar
* 3 tablesp. Irish whiskey



Recipe

To Cook

First poach the red apple: Put whole into a pan of simmering water and poach gently for 6 minutes; remove and leave until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, prepare the the whiskey sauce: Place the egg yolks, caster sugar and whiskey in a bowl set over a pan of hot water and whisk until pale and fluffy. (Take care not to overheat or the sauce will curdle.) When it is thick and creamy, remove from the heat and keep warm until required.
To complete cooking the apples:

Slice off and reserve the top of the red apple, then carefully scoop out and chop the flesh; remove the core and discard. Peel, quarter and core the green apple and cut into slices like orange segments. Melt the butter in a heated pan and sauté the apple segments in it briefly with the cinnamon, cloves, sugar and honey. Remove apple as it is cooked, discard the spices and reduce remaining liquid if necessary. (Alternatively, if there is not enough juice, work in a little cold butter and cream over low heat to make a sauce).
To serve

Arrange the chopped red apple flesh in the bottom of its hollowed-out skin and arrange the segments neatly on top. Using a small parisienne cutter, remove small balls from the reserved top of the red apple and arrange around the edge of the plate. Place the apple in the centre of a warm serving plate, pour the sauce from the pan around the edge. Finally, spoon over the reserved whiskey sauce, replace the top of the red apple to decorate, and serve.Terry McCoy