For close to two hundred years, the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has been told and repeated. It was published in 1843, and its story of redemption and transformation has resonated ever since. Some people today even host Dickens’ themed dinners with classic foods based on the cuisine in the book. For example, Food and Wine provides guidance on how to serve Scrooge’s menu on Christmas.
Amazingly, people have been hosting dinners with menus based on the foods in A Christmas Carol for at least a hundred years. A menu for a Charles Dickens Christmas Dinner appeared in the December, 1925 issue of Ladies Home Journal. It included roast goose, boiled onions, mashed potatoes, plum pudding, and other foods. A companion article described how to roast and carve a goose.
In the old magazine, there were red-tinted apples stuffed with chopped prunes and nuts in the foreground of an image of the roast goose. The articles included directions for making the stuffed apple garnish:
I had no desire to roast a goose, but I was fascinated by the stuffed apple garnish. The directions called for tinting peeled apples red, poaching them, and then stuffing them with chopped prunes and nuts. I decided to try making a few stuffed apples.
The Stuffed Apples with Chopped Prunes and Nuts were a vibrant red, and would make an impressive garnish or dessert. They were very tasty with a lovely mix of tastes and texture. When I got ready to eat an apple, I cut it in half, and was amazed how beautiful the white interior of the apple looked against the red background of the parts of the apple that had the red coloring. An optional way to present the apples would be to cut them all in half. 
The old directions were for twelve apples. I didn’t want that many, so when I updated the recipe, I reduced it to 3 apples. For the syrup that the apples are poached in, I divided the amount of sugar by three, but proportionately used more water than in the original recipe. I did this because even though I made fewer apples, I still needed sufficient syrup to successfully poach the apples. I also had some issues with the syrup getting too thick if I didn’t add additional water.
The old recipe doesn’t identify what type of nuts to use. I used walnuts.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Apples Stuffed with Prunes and Nuts
3 apples (Use a variety that maintains shape when cooked. I used Honeycrisp.)
6 prunes
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sugar + additional sugar to sprinkle on top
1 cup water + additional water to cook prunes
1/2 teaspoon liquid red food coloring (Adjust amount if very light or dark red apples are desired.)
Peel and core the apples. Combine the sugar and water in a pan that is large enough to hold the apples; bring to a boil using medium heat. Stir in the red food coloring, and add the apples. Reduce heat so the syrup very gently boils while the apples poach. Periodically roll the apples to get them evenly colored. Add additional water if the syrup gets too thick. The lid can be put on the pan to help the apples cook more evenly. Cook until the apples are just barely tender (and not so long that they begin to fall apart).
In the meantime, put the prunes in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat. Let sit for a few minutes, then drain and chop the prunes. Combine the chopped prunes and chopped walnuts. Set aside.
Line a dish or pan that can be put under the broiler with foil. Set the cooked apples in the lined dish and stuff with the chopped prune and walnut mixture. Sprinkle sugar on top of the stuffed apples. Put under the broiler and broil until the sugar melts (1 – 2 minutes).
The stuffed apples can be served whole or cut in half before serving. They work well as either a garnish or a dessert.
Those look really interesting. Years ago I roasted a goose for Christmas, with a fruit stuffing that included apples and peaches. It was delicious and a big hit with my family, but there was barely enough meat for everyone. They just aren’t that meaty.
The group gathered for a meal where roast goose is served needs to be small for there to be enough meat. The fruit stuffing sounds lovely.
What fun! They’re definitely pretty!
They turned out really nice.
The stuffed apples sound interesting. Not sure how my family would react, but might work for me and my husband.
My husband and I enjoyed them.
Very pretty! I reminds me a bit of my pears poached in red wine, such a lovely color and fun to slice into and see the contrast.
I wonder if it would work to poach apples in red wine. Even though the old recipe called for using food coloring, I had mixed feelings about using it when I made the recipe. Red wine might be a good way to get a similar effect.
Oh, it would definitely work Sheryl! I’m going to give it a try next time I make the pears!
And, I may also give it a try. Thanks for the great suggestion.
it’s great fun to do dickensian stuff for christmas. I’m considering trying the hot gin punch that the cratchits have in the story. a nifty cooking blog, Rhubarb and Lavender has a whole set of recipes for a Christmas Carol feast (along with many other themed feasts).
Thanks for the info about the Rhubarb and Lavender site. I just found it. In case others want to see their recipes for a Christmas Carol feast, here’s the link:
A Christmas Carol – Rhubarb & Lavender
What a fun idea. I had no idea of cooking a Christmas dinner based on the story.
I agree – it would be a fun way to do a Christmas dinner.
Your apples are gorgeous!
Thank you! I had fun making them, and was pleased with how they turned out.
I have to say I never heard of hosting a Dickens dinner with food they would have eaten.
Neither had I until I saw the menu in the hundred-year-old magazine. I then started to do online research regarding when A Christmas Carol was published (It is much older than I’d realized.) – and the next thing I knew, I was discovering modern menus for meals based on that story.
This would be a ‘humbug-free feasting’ evening – love the idea!
🙂 It’s a fun idea.
wow i’ve never heard of that apple dish! such an interesting idea to dye it!
merry christmas
sherry
It turned out really nice. Merry Christmas!
I love a goose for Christmas! So much tastier than turkey. And the fat it releases is wonderful for roast potatoes for weeks after. Interesting looking pud. I’ll try that one day. But not Christmas Day. That has to be Christmas Pudding. By law. Almost!
When my father was alive he often requested a roast goose for Christmas dinner, and sometimes my mother or my sister would oblige and make him one. He was a Dickens fan, but I never made a connection there, and never thought to ask him why he wanted one. The stuffed apples sound yummy.
I have done something similar with red hot candies in the water to give a red color and a bite of cinnamon.
What a great idea! The cinnamon would be a good addition and would make the flavor of the stuffed apples more nuanced and complex.
Love the apples! Perhaps it’s possible to colour the apples with beetroot juice?
I like it. That’s a great suggestion. When I made this recipe, I felt ambiguous about using a commercial food color even though that’s what the old recipe called for. It’s so much better to use a natural food color.
We use it to colour a risotto with gorgonzola. It’s quite powerful. Haven’t used it with apples, yet!
I don’t think that beetroot juice has a very strong flavor, so it probably would work well to color apples.
Your stuffed apples are very pretty. That might be the only food on the menu I would be tempted to eat. Boiled onions would stop me! It was interesting to me also that the foods all were similar textures–apple sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing. We had roasted goose one year for Christmas at Grandma’s house. It was never repeated.
Roast goose can be a challenging food to make. Lots of soft foods – no idea why there wasn’t much variation in the textures of the foods on the menu.
They look so pretty! How did they taste?