Charlotte [tariama šarlotė] – such a classic dessert, the name of which is associated with the Queen of Great Britain, the wife of King George III, Charlotte. She was German, by the way, and she was very supportive of apple growers. Until then, apples in Britain were grown only as raw material for cider, and Queen Charlotte opened the door to sweet dessert apples and showed that these fruits are worthy of the royal table.
The charm of this dessert is that it is prepared incredibly simply, without any kneading of the dough. Slices of white bread are rolled out, cut into thinner strips, each one is smeared with melted butter and lined with small baking forms – I just use ceramic bowls for this.
The bread-lined bowls are then filled with apple filling and baked. The dessert is served while still warm with ice cream or cream – could it be tastier!
Recipe: Homemade apple charlotte
I made two charlottes and used two bowls 13cm in diameter and about 7cm high, but feel free to use any other bowls you have on hand.
Preparation time: about 30 minutes
Cooking time: about 40 min.
Portions: For 2-4 people (or 2 generous servings in jars)
Ingredients:
- 1 pack “Toste” white bread (if you don’t use it all, use the rest to make snacks – here you can find my spread recipes!)
- 4–5 bigger apples
- 150 gr butter (50 g for the filling, the rest for spreading the bread)
- 100 gr sugar (feel free to adjust the sweetness according to yourself: you can use less or sweeten with erythritol)
- 1 handful raisins
- A pinch cinnamon
- For serving: vanilla ice cream or cream
Production process:
- We are preparing the apple filling. Peel the apples, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes. Put it in a pan, add 50 g of butter, add sugar and cinnamon. Simmer over low heat until the apples are soft. Add a handful of washed raisins and saute for a few more minutes.
- We are preparing bread. While the apples are stewing, cut the crusts off the Toste bread slices. Roll out each slice with a rolling pin to make it thinner and divide it into 4 narrower strips. Brush each strip with melted butter on both sides. Using a glass, prepare round “bottoms” for each bowl.
- We form cakes. Line the bottom and sides of a ceramic bowl with buttered bread strips. Fill with the apple filling and fold the edges of the bread inwards to make a closed pastry. Lightly butter the top again.
- We bake with a steam bath. Place the bowls in a larger, deep baking tray. Fill the tin itself with boiling water so that it half covers the jars. Bake in an oven heated to 180 °C for about 40 minutes.
- We supply. Serve the pies while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of cream.
Apple charlotte
Ingredients
- 1 package of Toste white bread (if you don’t use it all, use the rest to make snacks – here are my spread recipes!)
- 4-5 bigger apples
- 150 g butter (50 g for the filling, the rest for spreading the bread)
- 100 g sugar (feel free to adjust the sweetness according to yourself: you can use less or sweeten with erythritol)
- 1 handful raisins
- A pinch of cinnamon
- For serving: vanilla ice cream or cream
Instructions
- We are preparing the apple filling. Peel the apples, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes. Put it in a pan, add 50 g of butter, add sugar and cinnamon. Simmer over low heat until the apples are soft. Add a handful of washed raisins and saute for a few more minutes.
- We are preparing bread. While the apples are stewing, cut the crusts off the Toste bread slices. Roll out each slice with a rolling pin to make it thinner and divide it into 4 narrower strips. Brush each strip with melted butter on both sides. Using a glass, prepare round “bottoms” for each bowl.
- We form cakes. Line the bottom and sides of a ceramic bowl with buttered bread strips. Fill with the apple filling and fold the edges of the bread inwards to make a closed pastry. Lightly butter the top again.
- We bake with a steam bath. Place the bowls in a larger, deep baking pan. Fill the tin itself with boiling water so that it half covers the jars. Bake in an oven heated to 180 °C for about 40 minutes.
- We supply. Serve the pies while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of cream.
