Baked Apples with Cranberries and Nuts

2/3 cup chopped cranberries

2/3 cup chopped nuts

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

6 baking apples, halved lengthwise, cored with melon ball cutter, leaving a 1 1/2-inch cavity, and the cavities rubbed with 1/2 lemon

1 cup boiling water

In a small bowl, combine well the cranberries, nuts, four tablespoons butter, the maple syrup and the sugar. Divide the mixture among the apple cavities and arrange the apples in a baking pan just large enough to hold them in one layer.

Dot the apples with the remaining two tablespoons butter. Add the water carefully to the pan.

Bake the apples, covered with foil, in the middle of a preheated 375 degrees oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they are just tender.

Serve the apples warm or let them come to room temperature in the cooking liquid.