How about this for a simple, sensational dessert? South African Pink Lady and Golden Delicious apples, cored and scored around their middles, then filled with dried fruits, orange zest and ground almonds – baked until soft. Anyone for (vegan) ice cream on the side?

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan oven 160°C, Gas Mark 4.
2. Using a sharp knife, score abound the middles of each apple (like an equator running around the earth!) 
Remove the cores with an apple corer or a sharp knife. Grease a baking dish with a knob of the butter, then stand the apples in the dish.
3. Mix the remaining butter with the ground almonds, sugar, sultanas and orange zest. Spoon into the cored apples, and pour the orange juice on top.
4. Bake the apples for 20-25 minutes, until the flesh is soft – check with the tip of a sharp knife to see if they are tender. Cool for a few minutes (or else they are too hot to handle!) and serve.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cooking: 20-25 minutes

Serves: 4

• 2 South African Pink Lady apples

• 2 South African Golden Delicious apples

• 30g butter, softened

• 50g ground almonds

• 30g light muscovado sugar

• 2tbsp sultanas

• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange

• Coconut Icecream

Cook’s tip: If you can’t fit all the filling into the apples, just add it to the baking dish 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.