Apples are healthy and juicy. If you have any left over, bake them into a delicious cake.
Apple pie is a classic. There are many variations on this sweet pastry, but few have become as legendary as the Russian apple charlotte. Bad language people claim that the Russians took a look at the cake from the French and adapted it to their own image. This is also evidenced by the fact that it was originally an unbaked dessert by the French confectioner Antoine Carêm, who created it from butter cookies, caramel and apple puree.
Name after a woman
Actually, Antoine Carême was not just an “ordinary confectioner”, he baked for Napoleon himself and came to Russia as the personal confectioner of Emperor Alexander I. Carême was intelligent and he knew how to deal with the powerful, so he used his sweets to inflate their egos. For example, the name of the dessert – Charlotte – was chosen in honor of the sister-in-law of the Russian Tsar – Charlotte Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Who knows how the lady would look if she knew that the original “model” of her doughnut had a rather simple base.
Bun inspiration
It was said that the original charlotte was inspired by a French dessert made of apples and crusts of white bread, which resembles a Czech bun. Of course, no one expected that this trivial dish would become an “emperor cake”. And no one expected that the Russians would transform this French appetizer and include it – as their gastronomic treasure – in the Russian cookbook. Do you want to know how this “apple globetrotter” tastes in the Russian version? Here is the recipe!
Raw materials on the table!
Before you start baking, prepare all the ingredients. Don’t worry, there aren’t too many of them! All you need is 800 g of apples, 70 g of plain flour, 50 g of sugar, 25 g of butter, 100 ml of milk, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, a pinch of salt, a little fresh lemon juice and, finally, a drop of vanilla essence, which gives the charlotte a lovely aroma…
Dough processing
Prepare a deep bowl and beat 2 eggs with sugar in it. Once the mixture has a frothy consistency, add a pinch of salt, milk, melted butter and vanilla essence. Sift the flour and work it into the dough together with the baking powder. do you have The result should be a semi-liquid thick dough. And that’s exactly what you need to prepare charlotte.
Apple processing
Now it’s the turn of the apples! Peel them, clean them and cut them into slices. Then mix them well with lemon juice, which will prevent the fruit from browning unnecessarily. And not only that, a little sour juice gives the apples freshness and a better taste. So take advantage of it!
Big casting…
And then it’s easy. Pour the batter into a bowl, toss in most of the sliced apples (but keep a few aside for decoration). Mix both ingredients thoroughly to combine. Then pour the mixture into a greased bishop’s bread pan. Use a spatula to level the surface so that it is flat and then decorate it with apple pieces. Finally, sugar the dessert and put a few slices of butter on it to give it a slightly softer and creamier taste.
Serving and eating
Bake the apple charlotte in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 45 minutes. As soon as it gets “golden”, take it out of the oven and let it cool slowly. Serve the finished dessert cut into slices and sprinkled with icing sugar. It tastes great with good coffee or tea. So don’t forget to enjoy it with your family (or a visitor)!
