Slow Baked Honeycrisp Apples

It was time to do inventory of the fridge over the weekend and I discovered four honeycrisp apples in the back of the hydrator.  Though they weren't as pretty as they once were when purchased many weeks ago, they still felt firm and needed to be used.  Coinicidently, on this same day I had been going through old cooking magazines pulling out recipes to be used in the future.  One of those recipes that struck my fancy was for slow baked honeycrisp apples. 

Honeycrisp apples have a really sweet flavor and they are quite juicy.  They make a great eating apple but this recipe stated that when baked long and slow, they ooze out their juices and caramelize.  It sounded like these would make a delicious topping for my breakfast yogurt and indeed they did.  Another positive thing about this recipe was that it made the whole house smell divine!  Nothing better than the smell of baked apples with their accompanying spices.
Slow Baked Honecrisp Apples

1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 medium honeycrisp apples (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 Tbsp finely grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Butter four 3/4 cup custard cups or ramekins. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up in case the apples bubble over.

Mix sugar, cinnamon and ginger together in a small bowl. When butter cools, stir in vanilla.  Peel apples, then core and quarter them.  Slice the apples into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Place a thin layer of apple slices in each prepared custard cup, overlapping slices;  brush lightly with butter mixture.  Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp sugar mixutre over each cup, then sprinkle very lightly with orange peel.  Repeat this process until all of the ingredients are used.  Cover tops of cups with parchment paper then foil.  Using a small knife, pierce 3-4 holes through the foil and paper to allow steam to escape.  Place cups on prepared baking sheet.
Bake apples until very soft and reduced in volume by about half, about 2 hours.  Let cool at least 20 minutes.  Serve over yogurt or serve alone with a dollop of whipped cream.