Bourbon Baked Apples

1 lemon
4 small tart apples
8 teaspoons Bourbon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Grate 1 teaspoon of the colored part of the peel from the lemon and squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice. Cut the apples in half, then core them.

Place the apple halves, cut side up, in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and Bourbon. Pour 2 tablespoons water around, not over, the apples.

In a small dish, use your fingers to rub together the butter, brown sugar, pie spice, and lemon peel until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the cut sides of the apples.

Bake, spooning the juices over the apples once or twice, until the apples are just fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm with the pan juices spooned over them.

Yields 4 servings.