Baked stuffed Apples

Baked stuffed Apples

I saw a picture of a similar dish the other day that in turn got me inspired to create my own.
The late season apples are still lovely. In this recipe I used pacific rose as they where on hand but would prefer a slightly more tart apple i.e. granny smith. Any apple will do the job so just use what you have.
I have used a sweet pastry but a short pastry would also work.
Filling
4                      granny smith apples
6 Tlb                desiccated coconut
4 Tlb                currants or raisins
4 Tlb                softened Manuka honey
1 Tlb                softened butter
1-2 shots            Rum or brandy                       
1 tsp                cinnamon
.5 tsp               nutmeg
Pastry
250g                butter
200g               Icing sugar
1                      pinch salt
500g                flour
1                      lemon zest
1                      tsp pure vanilla essence
4                      egg yolks
2 – 4 Tlb          cold water

Method
Pastry: 
Cream the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla & zest. Add egg yolks. Gently mix in the flour until the mix comes together, add the coldwater and mix to form dough. Use as little movement as possible to form the Dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hr. Remove from the fridge and let warm slightly (room temp). Roll the pastry out to about 3 – 5 mm on a well-floured surface, cut it into quarters (four pieces roughly round in shape). Place an apple in the centre of each peace off pastry. Cut the pastry into a cross shape i.e. X. Each strip of the pastry crosses needs to be about 6cm wide with a small round in the centre that the apple is sitting on. Fold each strip over the apple press the pastry together on top of the apple, sealing the sides together like a seem. You should have four seems in total. Remove any excess pastry. Chill again for 30 min (freeze for 15 if hurried)
Egg wash with 1 egg and a little milk mixed.




Filling:
Combined all ingredients to form a paste.
Assembly:
Core the apples and leave a generous cavity to fill. Press the filling in to completely fill the cavity.
Cooking:
Place on an oven tray and bake at 180c for 30-40 min or until the apple is tender when a skewer or small knife is inserted.
Serve with custard or ice cream etc.