The Best Way to Make Baked Apples, According to Jacques Pépin (and His Mother)

At Parade, we're all about trying the new viral recipes, whether they're starring cucumbers, blueberries or hard boiled eggs, but we're also fans of the classics. And for us, it doesn't get more classic than Jacques Pépin. The legendary French chef has helped us level up our scrambled eggs, chicken salad, quiche and so much more. Plus, we dare you to find a chef who has videos that are more charming and more helpful.

The other thing about Pépin is that he's prolific. His culinary catalog is deep and wide, which means we keep finding treasures that are new to us. This time it's his Apple Bonne Femme, or baked apples. Because we've noticed a little bit of a chill in the morning air we think it's the perfect time to give this one a shot.

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How to Make Jacques Pépin's Baked Apples

This recipe pops up in a few spots online. We've included the YouTube short above, but we'd suggest checking out the recipe video he did with his granddaughter, Shorey, which is where we picked up our tips and tricks for this recipe.

In the YouTube version, he mentions that his aunt used to make this recipe, but in the video with Shorey he says, "My mother used to do something like this. It's an old recipe." Chances are good that both are true, which warms our heart even more. The other great thing? This recipe is super easy. Here's how to do it.

1. Slice some bread. This might seem like an usual first step, but trust the process—and Pépin. Jacques slices a few pieces from a baguette to place under each apple. As the apples bake, the bread soaks up the juices from the fruit, as well as the sauce that's bubbling away in the baking dish. When Jacques mentions how good the bread is, Shorey agrees. "Oh yes, the bread is really good," she says. You'll need one slice of bread for each apple. Place the bread in the bottom of a baking dish and move onto your apples.

2. Prep your apples. To make sure your apples stand up straight in the baking dish, Jacques suggests cutting off a small slice from the bottom of the fruit. As usual, he's thought of everything. Next, use a paring knife to cut out the area around the stem end and the flower end, then remove the core with an apple corer. In the video with Shorey Pépin reveals his favorite apple corer, which has a little lever you push to access the fruity cylinder. So easy!

3. Make them look cute. If you're familiar with Pépin's culinary catalog you know that aesthetics are also important to him. He's an artist, and you can see that in his food. He loves to add a creative flourish here and there to make his food prettier—and more fun. In this recipe, he scores the apple about a third of the way down, just cutting through the skin. As the apple bakes, that cut will open up, giving each apple a little "hat."

4. Bring on the flavor. Once your apples are prepped, place each one on top of a slice of bread and then add your filling. The way he adds the filling varies by video, but the ingredients are the same. In the video with Shorey, he fills each apple with about a teaspoon and a half of apricot jam, then adds a teaspoon of butter in each, followed by a tablespoon of maple syrup. You can also mix the jam and maple syrup together and spoon the mixture over the apples. He adds about 1/4 cup water to the pan to help create the sauce.

5. Bake them up. Now it's time to bake! In the YouTube short, Pépin calls for baking at 375° and in the Shorey video he bumps that up to 400°. Either way, it should take about an hour for your apples to bake up nice and tender with a delicious caramely sauce in the bottom of the pan.

6. Gild the lily. When the apples come our of the oven, spoon some of the delicious sauce on top. Pépin says you can serve the apples warm or room temperature and also offers some topping suggestions: cream, whipped cream or sour cream. "Heaven!" he says in one demo we saw online. Per usual, he's absolutely correct.

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