Recipe for French Charlotte with apples and its modern variations

Traditional French Charlotte

The classic French charlotte with apples, which is prepared on the basis of white bread, appeared, presumably, in the 18th century and was named after Queen Charlotte (wife of the English king George III). At first glance, a pie with bread instead of the usual batter may seem strange to us. But believe me, the French know a lot about cooking!

You will need:

• sweet and sour apples - about 7 pieces (1.5 kg);
• granulated sugar - 100 grams (if apples are sour, sugar can be taken and more);
• butter - 300 grams (1.5 packs);
• milk - 120 milliliters;
• white bread or loaf - 2 rolls;
• corn starch - 2 teaspoons;
• vanilla sugar - 1 sachet (or vanillin on the tip of a knife).

Cooking

1. Melt 50 grams of butter in a thick-walled pan and put apples, peeled and diced into large cubes. Simmer over medium heat for about 7 minutes under the lid.
2. Add sugar. Optionally, in addition to apples, you can put a jar of canned peaches or apricots. Raisins will not be superfluous either. Stew for another 10 minutes, until the apples become candied.
3. Stir the starch thoroughly in the milk and, without waiting for it to settle, pour the mixture into the pan. Reduce heat and simmer for about a minute, stirring constantly. On this filling is ready, you can remove it from the fire.
4. Melt the rest of the butter. Prepare the bread: cut into thin slices, like on toast, and dry in the oven or in a frying pan (just a little, not bringing to a brown crust).
5. Dip the bread in ghee and carefully lay them on the bottom of the lap form (so that the filling does not pour out). Cut part of the bread into narrower slices and lay them vertically along the edges of the mold, also overlapping.
6. Now we spread the apple filling and build a second bread layer on top of it (do not forget to soak this bread in butter too).
7. Bake French charlotte in an oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for about an hour. Before serving, let it rest for about 15 minutes. In addition to the pie, you can serve ice cream, custard or sweet curd.

Slow Cooking Recipe

If you are a mother of a large family or just a very busy person, the recipe for French charlotte can be simplified somewhat, and at the same time it will be no less tasty and fragrant. A crock-pot and a jar of jam will help you quickly cook French charlotte.

You will need:

• white bread - 1 loaf;
• milk - 1 cup;
• any jam - 1 jar (or how much will fit);
• butter - 20 grams;
• granulated sugar - 100 grams;
• eggs - 3 pieces;
• icing sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg - to taste.

Cooking

1. Cut the bread into arbitrary slices, having previously cut the crust from it.
2. Dry it in the oven (or just grab a slightly hardened loaf).
3. Put the bread in a saucepan, pour milk and put on a slow fire. Pieces of the loaf need to be mashed with a spatula.
4. Add oil and stir it all for a couple of minutes. Then you need to break the eggs and sugar into this mixture. Cinnamon - at will.Knead into a homogeneous mass. Thus, you will get a simple dough.
5. Lubricate the crock-pot with butter or margarine and put half of the dough. Pour jam on it and cover with a second layer of dough.
6. Set to “Baking” for at least 40 minutes. Serve can be sprinkled with powdered sugar, coconut flakes, nuts (it is especially suitable for apricot jam).

With cookies, strawberries and mascarpone

A real old recipe for French charlotte involves the use of white bread and apples. Later, a variant with Savoyardi cookies was invented, which does not need heat treatment. Such cookies can be bought at the store or baked by yourself (agree, this is even more interesting). Despite the large number of ingredients, French charlotte with strawberries is quick and easy to prepare.

You will need:

• flour - 40 grams;
• eggs - 4 pieces;
• granulated sugar - 130 grams;
• potato starch - 40 grams;
• cream (35-40%) - 200 ml;
• strawberries - 400 grams;
• mascarpone cheese - 250 grams;
• lemon zest - 1 teaspoon;
• milk - 100 ml (half a glass);
• powdered sugar - 110 grams;
• salt - on the tip of a knife;
• coconut flakes - 30 grams.

Cooking

1. First, prepare Savoyardi cookies. Mix two thirds of the sugar with salt and lemon zest.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to a thick foam (take chilled eggs to beat better) and add the previously prepared lemon sugar. Now the proteins need to be beaten to solid peaks.
3. Beat the yolks until light foam (beat for about 7 minutes) and add them to the yolks.
   Sift flour and starch into the egg mixture. Gently mix with a spatula until smooth.
4. Using a pastry bag (or just a cellophane bag with a hole), we form cookies on a baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle it with the remaining sugar and powder. Make them approximately 7 centimeters long and 1 centimeter thick.
5. Bake Savoyardi for about 12 minutes in the oven, at 180 degrees. Do not brown them too much, otherwise they will become stiff.
6. Now prepare the cream. To do this, beat the mascarpone with powdered sugar for about half a minute, and then add coconut.
7. Whip in a separate container the chilled cream to solid peaks and mix them in a sweet mascarpone.
8. After the ingredients are ready, you can actually form a charlotte. To do this, you will need a mold expanding up or just a deep bowl. Some housewives use a cake pan with grooves - cookies are placed in these grooves just fine. Cover the entire mold with cling film (it will help you then carefully remove the cake).
9. Dip cookies in milk and lay on the bottom and edges of the mold. Instead of milk, you can use citrus juice, rum or liquor (of course, you should not use alcoholic ingredients if the children eat dessert).
10. Cut the washed and dried strawberries into slices. Put a little less than half the cheese cream and half the berries on the bottom of the mold, cover with a layer of cookies (also soaked).
11. Then again: cream, strawberries, cookies. Leave a little mascarpone on the decoration.
12. Cover the entire structure with cling film and refrigerate for 3 hours or more.
13. Remove the mold from the refrigerator, remove the film and with a deft movement flip the charlotte onto a flat plate. Garnish with cream remnants and strawberry slices. You can also add mint leaves and coconut.

The recipe for French charlotte with apples has not changed much since the eighteenth century, and this speaks for itself. Surprise your guests with a traditional cake, and, rest assured, many will want to discover the secrets of this beautiful dessert, like France itself.

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