Here is a wonderful apple streusel recipe with a twist: Add a bit of Vino Cotto! A naturally sweet syrup "vino cotto" which translates to "cooked wine" has a fig-like flavor, but does not contain alcohol or vinegar. It is similar in thickness to a simple syrup (sugar and water) and is made by boiling grapes in copper pots then aging in wood barrels for a year. Vino Cotto is used with meats, seafood, drizzled over cheese, and in dessert recipes such as this Vino Cotto Apple Struesel.

Recipe by Montillo Italian Foods
Photo and recipe courtesy of Montillo Italian Foods

Ingredients

• 5-6 large McIntosh apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar (dark brown sugar optional)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons margarine, chilled, cut into pieces
• 2-3 oz. Vino Cotto di Montillo
• Vanilla or vanilla fudge swirl ice cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  
2. Peel, core and cut apples into ¼" slices.  
3. Using PAM No-Stick Cooking Spray, evenly coat a deep 2-quart baking dish.  
4. In a large bowl, coat apple slices with lemon juice.  Pour vino cotto over apples and gently toss to coat.  Pour contents of bowl into the baking dish.  
5. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. Add butter pieces to mixture. Using a large table fork, press butter into the flour mixture to form a granular mixture.
6. Sprinkle the topping over the apples.  
7. Bake for 30 minutes, checking periodically to avoid burning.  If the topping begins to brown before the apples are tender, loosely cover the baking dish with a piece of tinfoil.  
8. When the apples are tender, remove the tinfoil and finish browning the topping.  
9. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.