Jablka Na Winie Czerwonym

Jablka na winie czerwonym translates straight from Polish as apples in red wine, and that’s exactly what you get: cored whole apples filled with jewel-bright jam, baked in a sweet wine syrup spiced with mace, then chilled until the flavors marry. It’s a quiet, elegant dessert that shows up on Polish Christmas and Easter tables.

The wine does double duty. As it bakes it pulls color into the apple skins until they turn a deep ruby, and the alcohol cooks off leaving behind a syrupy, fruit-forward sauce that pools in the bottom of the dish.

Mace is the spice to seek out here. It’s the lacy outer covering of the nutmeg seed, brighter and more floral than nutmeg itself, and it carries the wine and apple beautifully. Nutmeg works in a pinch.

Use a firm baking apple like Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp so the fruit holds its shape after an hour in the oven.

Chef Tips

• Core the apples but leave the bottom intact so the jam stays in the cavity instead of leaking into the syrup.
• Choose a dry red wine you’d actually drink. Cooking concentrates whatever’s in the bottle, including off flavors from cheap wine.
• Baste the apples once or twice during baking. This deepens the color on the skin and keeps the tops from drying out.
• The chill time is what makes this dish. Two to four hours in the fridge lets the wine syrup soak deep into the fruit.

Variations

• Swap the jam for apricot or raspberry preserves for a different fruit pairing.
• Add a cinnamon stick and two whole cloves to the wine for a mulled-wine spice profile.
• Spoon the chilled apples over vanilla ice cream or alongside a dollop of mascarpone for a richer presentation.