Easy Black Raspberry Baked Apples

Fixed this for my friends for our nice, homey French family dinner tonight. Quick, easy, cheap -- and you feel so virtuous eating fruit for dessert!


4 Golden Delicious or other cooking apples
4 T unsalted butter (I prefer Organic Valley)
water
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1/3 c black raspberry jam, strained or without seeds (really cheap at Costco!)
1-2 T kirsch, cognac or raspberry eau de vie
heavy cream

Core the apples and peel a thin strip or cut a line around the middle of each apple (to prevent it from bursting while it's cooking). Stick in a buttered baking pan, divide the butter up and stuff equal amounts into the cavities of each apple. Put apples in the pan, pour about a tablespoon of water over the top of each apple, then sprinkle sugar thickly over . Bake at 350° for about half an hour, until they're soft and bulging a bit at the middle.
Heat the jam and the kirsch (or other alcohol) in a small pan over medium heat, stirring, until it becomes thin and bubbly. Dish up the apples. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of jam mixture over each apple, so it puddles, then pour cream over or around the apples.