CookEat Recipe
Apple Charlotte
A round shell of butter-dipped bread enclosing a freshly cooked cinnamon-scented apple filling.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 500 g reinette or similar aromatic cooking apples, weighed whole; 125 g caster sugar; About 200 g stale white bread crumb, crusts removed, cut into slices thinner than 1 cm; About 100 g fresh butter, as needed to coat the bread; A small piece of cinnamon stick, about 2 cm; Juice of 1/2 lemon; Cold water for holding the apples, discarded.
Step 2
Peel and quarter the apples, remove the cores and seeds, and put the quarters into cold water with the lemon juice as you work. Drain well and cut crosswise into thin slices.
Step 3
Put the drained slices and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan without added water. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the apples begin to release their own juice and soften. Add the sugar and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until reduced to a soft thick filling. Remove the cinnamon. This filling is for immediate use, not room-temperature preservation.
Step 4
Prepare a smooth round mould of about 1 litre. Melt the butter until hot but not browned. Dip the thin bread slices briefly into it and use them to cover the base and sides completely, fitting or overlapping the edges so no gaps remain.
Step 5
Fill the bread shell with the cooked apple mixture, then cover with more butter-dipped bread slices. Bake at about 180°C for 25–35 minutes, just until the bread is lightly golden and the filling is hot throughout. Rest for about 5 minutes, carefully invert onto a serving dish and serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days.
Step 6
For an apricot centre, make a small well in the apple filling and put about 60 g prepared apricot preserve in it before adding the bread lid. Alternatively, spread about 60 g prepared fruit preserve in thin layers between the apple filling. For internal bread layers, allow about 40 g extra crustless bread and 20 g extra butter and put one or two thin butter-dipped slices between layers of apple. Use a slightly larger mould as needed; retain the closed outer bread shell.
Step 7
For the pastry-cased version, omit the main bread and its butter. Make a shortcrust with 250 g flour, 110 g icing sugar, 125 g soft butter, 1 whole egg and 1 additional yolk: combine the flour and sugar, cut in the butter and eggs with a knife, then bring together with minimal handling. Chill covered for 30 minutes. Roll 2–3 mm thick on a surface dusted with about 10 g extra flour. Line a 20 cm tin greased with 10 g extra butter, add the cooled apple filling, cover with a pastry lid and seal the edges with a little water. If desired, brush with one separately beaten extra yolk. Bake at about 175°C for 35–45 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked and the centre reaches at least 74°C. Rest briefly before serving warm. Refrigerate or freeze unused pastry; this alternative takes longer than the bread version.
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