Required: Six even-sized cooking apples. 1 wo ounces of loaf sugar. Quarter of a pint of water. Threepennyworth of cream. Castor sugar and vanilla to taste.

Choose well-shaped, even-sized apples for this dish. First remove the core; it is best to do this before peeling the apple, for it is then less likely to break. If a corcr is available, it is a simple matter.

Merely place the corer over the stalk-end, press it gently through the apple, which should be held firmly on the table. Or take a small knife with a pointed blade, mark a tiny circle or square round the stalk-end, then proceed to dig out the piece; do this at the other end as well. Then work the knife round and round, first at one end, then at the other, until there is a hole right through the apple, then peel the fruit neatly. Put the water and sugar in a small pan, let the sugar dissolve slowly, then boil it to a syrup. Put the apples in a deep tin dish, pour the syrup all over them. Put the dish in the oven, baste the apples frequently with the syrup, and when they feel just tender when pierced with a skewer, put them on to an apple-dish or in a glass dish, and pour a little syrup over each.

Whip the cream until it will just hang on the fork, then add to it castor sugar and vanilla to taste. Next fill in the centre of each apple with it, piling it up slightly on each. This can be done either with a forcing bag and rose pipe, or with a fork. Sprinkle the top with a little chopped pistachio nut to give a pretty touch of colour, and serve either hot or cold.