Dad was type 2 diabetic. This was Mom's way of providing him a diabetic-friendly sweet. It dates from the 1950's.

Wash and stem 4 to 6 apples. Do not core out the bottoms of the apples, core them, but leave 1/2" to 1" of the apple's bottom so it makes a cup. At the top of the apples, peel off 1/2" to 1" of the skin from around the cored hole to expose the apple flesh.

Mom dissolved 3 saccharine tablets in about 1/2 cup warm water, or 2-3 packets of Sweet-n-Low, to make a syrup. Happily, there's more diabetic friendly sweeteners these days.

Heat the oven to 350°f.

Plump the raisins in the lukewarm water. Mom used around a half cup of dried raisins, or a little more, depending on the size of the apples.

Lightly dust the insides of each apple with a little cinnamon. Then gently stuff each apple with the plumped raisins. Stand the apples upright in the baking pan so they'll hold each other up, the same way stuffed bell peppers are placed.

Drizzle the syrup into the raisin stuffed cup of each apple. Extra syrup can be drizzled onto the peeled area at the top of each apple. Then dust the tops of the apples a little with cinnamon.

Place pan of stuffed apples in a 350°f oven, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the apples become tender. Try not to overcook them, as they'll fall apart when moving them from the pan to serve.

Some varieties of apples are firmer and take more time to become tender. Other apple varieties will become soft in about 15 minutes. Test with a toothpick to be certain. If the toothpick doesn't easily slide in and out of the baked apple, then bake a short while longer. If the apple is squishy, it's edible, but will be harder to move from the pan without it bursting open.

Mom served these still warm. A scoop of vanilla ice cream accompanies these raisin stuffed apples very well.

I've made these using only enough brown or cane sugar to slightly sweeten the water. But if you prefer a sweeter treat, then use more sweetener.

They're quite delicious using honey in the water instead of sugar. Simple comfort food.