Tuscan Baked Apples {Boffoli}

"Eating boffoli reminds me of eating the filling of an apple strudel. Carla Bani, the Tuscan wineproducer at the incredible fifteenth-century renaissance villa Villa Vingamaggio—where Much Ado About Nothing was filmed and where it’s said the “Mona Lisa” was painted by Leonardo daVinci—shared this recipe with me. Baking apples are cored, filled with Demerara sugar, pine nuts, and raisins, and topped with vin santo, an amber-colored dessert wine from Toscano, before being roasted until tender, tender, tender. The skins on the apples burst or boff (blow up) and are served with a few spoonfuls of vin santo–infused mascarpone." - Rolando Beramendi, 'Autentico'

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 45

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 324kcal

Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (56 g) Unsalted Butter plus more for the baking dish
4 Tart Green Apples (such as Granny Smith)
4 teaspoons (32 g) Demerara Sugar
2 teaspoons (8 g) Italian Pine Nuts
2 teaspoons (12 g) Flame or Golden Raisins
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (280 ml | 280 g) Vin Santo
1/2 cup (113 g) Mascarpone

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 7 x 10- inch baking dish (it should be large enough to hold the apples without touching). Use a paring knife or apple corer to cut about two-thirds of the way into each apple. (The opening should be 1 inch wide.)
Spoon ½ teaspoon of the sugar into each hole, followed by ½ teaspoon of the pine nuts, then ½ teaspoon of the raisins. Cut the butter into four pieces and set one piece on the top of the filling in each apple. Pour some vin santo into the cavities and on the bottom of the baking dish, reserving 2 tablespoons of the wine for the mascarpone. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the apples. Bake until the apple skins have burst and the sugars have been caramelized, and the apples can be pierced easily with a knife, about 45 minutes.
While the apples bake, in a medium bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and the remaining 2 tablespoons vin santo.
Serve the apples warm or at room temperature, topped with a heaping spoonful of mascarpone and a drizzle of the caramelized wine from the baking dish.

Notes

Nutrition