Traditional Spanish Dishes
Learn to prepare Lagar: traditional Spanish recipe
Lagar is a traditional Spanish dessert of whole baked apples with nuts, honey, cinnamon, and orange. The fruit becomes tender and aromatic, with a light sauce of its own juices and a golden touch of honey.
A homemade and comforting preparation that transforms firm apples into an aromatic dessert, simple and perfect to serve warm or cold.
01
Ingredients
Have everything ready before you begin.
- ✓4 large and firm apples, about 200 g each
- ✓60 g of nuts
- ✓4 tablespoons of honey
- ✓1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- ✓Grated zest of 1/2 orange
- ✓2 tablespoons of orange juice
- ✓30 g of butter
- ✓100 ml of water
- ✓1 pinch of salt
02
Step-by-step method
- 01
Heat the oven
Preheat the oven to 180 °C, with heat up and down. If you use a fan, lower the temperature to 170 °C.
- 02
Prepare the apples
Wash and dry the apples. Without peeling them, remove the core with a corer or a small knife, trying not to pierce the base to conserve a closed cavity.
- 03
Mix the filling
Place the apples in a baking dish. In a bowl, mix the chopped nuts, honey, cinnamon, grated zest, and orange juice and salt.
- 04
Add the butter
Add the soft or slightly melted butter, never too hot. Stir until you get a moist and aromatic paste with the nut pieces distributed.
- 05
Fill the apples
Distribute the mixture in the cavities, pressing gently so that it reaches the bottom, but without compacting it too much. Reserve any leftover mixture that has not been in contact with the raw fruit.
- 06
Add the water
Pour the 100 ml of water into the bottom of the dish, around the apples and not over the filling. The liquid will help generate steam and form the sauce with the fruit juices and honey.
- 07
Bake and baste
Bake for 35 to 50 minutes, depending on the size and variety of the apples. Halfway through cooking, baste them with the liquid from the dish without piercing them repeatedly.
- 08
Check the cooking
Remove the apples when the skin is shiny, the pulp is tender when tested with a fine knife, and the fruit retains its shape. If they brown too quickly, cover the dish lightly with aluminum foil; if they lack color, remove it during the last minutes.
- 09
Let it rest
Let the lagar rest for 10 to 15 minutes so that the juices thicken slightly and the fruit reaches a creamier texture.
- 10
Serve the dessert
Serve one apple per person, bathed in the sauce from the dish and accompanied by some nuts from the filling. You can enjoy it warm or cold.
- Choose firm apples that maintain their shape during cooking; the reineta variety provides a particularly pleasant acidic contrast.
- Do not remove the skin and avoid piercing the base when removing the core.
- Do not overfill the cavities or compact the filling.
- Monitor the oven so that the honey caramelizes without burning and handle the dish with care, as the sauce will be very hot.
- Natural yogurt, fresh cheese, and whipped cream are optional accompaniments and are not part of the basic recipe.