Gabriel Gate says he was raised in a family that loved eating fruit - there were more than 20 fruit trees in the garden around his house.
No surprise then, that he prefers a fruit dessert like these delicious baked apples to a rich cake or pudding at the end of a special-occasion meal.
This dish is from Gabriel’s book, co-written with Dr Rob Moodie, ‘Recipes for a great life’ (Hardie Grant, rrp $34.95). It’s essentially a workbook for
a happy and healthy life, and features advice and tips on health and wellbeing, achieving fulfilment and emotional satisfaction, and of course, eating
well. (There’s also a chapter on the benefits of gardening, with which we are in complete agreement!) Gabriel adds that you can substitute frozen blueberries
for the sauce with the apples, when fresh berries are out of season or too expensive.
Photo - ‘Recipes for a great life’, Hardie Grant
What you need
4 medium apples, washed and cored
4 dates, pitted
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons caster sugar
quarter of a star anise
third of vanilla pod, split lengthwise
300 g blueberries
What to do
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Make a cut 1 mm deep around the middle of each apple.
Place the apples in a small baking dish and place a pitted date in the hole of each cored apple.
Spoon the orange and lemon juice over the apples and sprinkle with sugar.
Add the star anise and vanilla pod to the dish. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, basting now and then with the juices.
After 30 minutes, scatter the blueberries into the dish and stirgently with the pan juices.
Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the apples are soft.
Serve the apples warm, with a spoonful of blueberries and juice.
Serves 4
Text: Gabriel Gate