Tufahije

Ingredients

• 6 firm apples, such as Golden Delicious or Braeburn
• 1 litre water
• 400 g caster sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 strip of lemon peel
• 200 g walnut halves
• 60 g icing sugar
• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250 ml double cream, well chilled
• 1 tbsp caster sugar, for the cream
• 6 walnut halves, to decorate

Before you cook

• Peel the apples, leaving them whole and keeping the stalk end intact if you can.
• Core each apple from the base with an apple corer, stopping about one centimetre short of the top so the cavity has a floor.
• Drop the peeled apples into a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice to stop them browning.
• Grind the walnut halves in a food processor in short pulses until fine and sandy, stopping before they turn oily.
• Pare one strip of peel from the lemon with a vegetable peeler.
• Squeeze the lemon and set the juice aside.

Steps

1. Pour the water into a wide pan and add the caster sugar, the lemon juice and the strip of lemon peel.
2. Set the pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has fully dissolved.
3. Bring the syrup to a gentle boil.
4. Drain the apples and lower them into the syrup, standing them upright with the cavity facing up.
5. Turn the heat down so the syrup barely bubbles.
6. Poach the apples for 8 minutes, spooning syrup over the exposed tops as they cook.
7. Turn each apple carefully with two spoons and poach for another 6 to 8 minutes.
8. Test one apple with a skewer, which should slide in with only slight resistance.
9. Lift the apples out with a slotted spoon and stand them upright on a tray to cool.
10. Boil the remaining syrup hard for 10 minutes until it thickens slightly and coats a spoon.
11. Take the syrup off the heat and leave it to cool.
12. Put the ground walnuts in a bowl with the icing sugar and cinnamon.
13. Add the milk and vanilla and work the mixture with a fork until it is damp and holds together when squeezed.
14. Spoon four tablespoons of the cooled syrup into the walnut mixture and stir it in.
15. Pack the walnut filling firmly into each apple cavity and mound a little on top.
16. Sit the filled apples in a deep dish and spoon the cooled syrup over them.
17. Chill the apples for at least 2 hours, basting once with the syrup in the dish.
18. Whip the double cream with the tablespoon of caster sugar until it holds soft peaks.
19. Pipe or spoon a cloud of cream onto each apple.
20. Press a walnut half into the cream and serve with a little syrup spooned around the base.