Baked Apples with Cranberries

I wish I had a picture of this to put on here, because it looks so pretty when it is finished. Maybe I will take one the next time I make this.

Ingredients for 4 people:
4 large apples (good apples to use are golden delicious, rome beauty, and jonagolds; whatever you use, do not use red delicious, mcintosh or granny smith as those are the worst varieties for baking whole)
500 ml fresh cranberries
65 ml packed brown sugar
The juice of 2 oranges
The zest of 1 orange
4 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons sweet butter
Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

1.) Divide the orange zest in two parts and finely chop half of it;blanch the grated zest for 10 minutes in 500 ml boiling water; drainand set aside.
2.) Cut off the top of each apple; remove the stem from the top,leaving a hole wide enough to accommodate a cinnamon stick; set aside.
3.) Remove the core and a little of the flesh from each apple usinga small melon baller so that you create a cavity in each apple.
4.)Place the hollowed apples in a baking dish; evenly divide 250 mlof the cranberries, the chopped zest, the juice of one orange, 2 tbsp.brown sugar and 1 tbsp butter amongst the apples; replace the tops onthe apples, sticking a cinnamon stick through each hole and into the stuffing. 5.) Divide the remaining ingredients in the baking dish around the apples.
6.) Place in a preheated 200° C (400° F) oven and bake for 30-40minutes or until the apples are cooked. Remove from the oven and letcool for 10 minutes. Place each apple in the middle of a nice large round plate;arrange some of the sauce around it (the mixture from the bottom ofthe baking dish). Garnish, if you wish, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side.