Baked Apple with Meringue and Vanilla Custard

Ingredients

• 1 Vanilla bean
• 300 ml milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 sheets gelatin
• 100 ml whipping cream
• 4 tart apples
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp rum
• 1 tbsp Raisins
• 1 tbsp ground almonds
• 2 egg whites
• a pinch salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 Apples
• 1 tbsp Calvados
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. 1.

   For the mousse, split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and stir them with the bean into the milk until it boils. Beat the egg yolks with sugar in a bowl until creamy, then fold in the flour. Soak gelatin sheets in cold water. Slowly pour the boiling milk into the yolk mixture while whisking; return everything to the pot, remove the vanilla bean, and simmer over low heat, whisking constantly until it thickens.

2. 2.

   Strain the vanilla custard through a sieve, dissolve the well-squeezed gelatin in the hot custard. Let cool, then fold in stiffly whipped cream when the custard starts to thicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

3. 3.

   Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) with both top and bottom heat.

4. 4.

   Wash apples, pat dry, cut off a small lid, and use an apple corer to remove the core. Mix sugar, rum, raisins, and almonds; fill the apples. Place the apples in a greased baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt and sugar until very stiff. Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, pipe a dome over each apple, and bake again for another 10 minutes until golden brown.

5. 5.

   For the sauce, peel, quarter, core, and dice apples. Simmer the apple cubes with about 100 ml water, Calvados, sugar, and lemon juice in a covered pot until they break down; puree if desired.

6. 6.

   Dust the plate with powdered sugar, spoon some apple sauce onto it, place the baked apples on top, and add the drained custard domes beside them.