Baked apples are a pretty common desert, especially in Europe, by itself or as a part of a more elaborate dessert, cooking apples makes them not only more tender but increases their sweetness and even caramelizes their natural sugars, that just makes it even more delicious.
There are several Portuguese recipes with several different varieties of apples, but most of them revolve around cooking them in wine, it can be white, red or even fortified wines like port wine, these are paired with a bit of sugar and cinnamon just to make it even more luscious.
There is something magical about the combination of apples, especially if they are tart or denser, with cinnamon, sugar and wine, that is very satisfying, it’s not quite desert, but it’s not quite a jam, it’s something in between and served warm at the end of a cold day, its absolutely fantastic, it just shows that an easy recipe with some humble ingredients can make something exceptional and in this case right on time for Christmas, let’s check the recipe.
Portuguese Style Baked Apples with Red Wine

The combination of apples, sweet cinnamon and rich red wine creates a delightful warm desert perfect for a winters day.
Ingredients
- Russet Apples – 4
- Cinnamon – 4 sticks
- Cinnamon – To Sprinkle (Ground)
- Brown Sugar – To Sprinkle
- Brown Sugar – 60gr
- Red Wine – 160ml
- Honey – 1 tablespoon (Dark)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to about 170 °C and get a dish that will hold all the apples comfortably.
- Wash the russet apples and use a cutter to remove the center of the apple (if you don’t have one, it’s not that important, use whole apples if you don’t have one or just cut them in half and take the seeds out), put them in the baking dish.
- Now put the cinnamon sticks inside each apple, followed by about 4 spoonfuls of the red wine and sprinkling the brown sugar on top and finally a pinch of ground up cinnamon.
- Take it to the oven and let it cook for about 20 to 25 minutes until they are well baked (it will of course depend on the size of the russet apples).
- While the apples are baking, in a saucepan bring the rest of the wine with the brown sugar to a medium/low heat and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until it reduces by half and creates a quasi syrupy liquid.
- After the russet apples are well baked, remove from the heat and serve with the red wine syrup on top (or on the side), enjoy. ;D







Note that there are a variety of apple that bake well, but the rule of thumb is you want tart apples, they will get more soft and jammy, but the contrast in taste is wonderful, or you want hard rustic apples, especially the one that are super hard and almost flavorful, those bake like a charm, because the wine, sugar and cinnamon will give it the flavor it lacks, and the apple will give all the structure.
If you have leftovers, be it apples or the sweet wine, don’t throw away, you can use it as a topping for pancakes or serve with a bit of plain yogurt.
This recipe for Portuguese Style Baked Apples with Red Wine was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Maçãs Reinetas Assadas foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.
Nutrition
Per Serving: 132 calories; 0.16 g fat; 29.3 g carbohydrates; 0.3 g protein.Did you try this recipe?
Let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below ;D