Charlotte with apples

There are two recipes for apple charlotte, which have been “arguing” among themselves for the title of the classic for several years. One is of slices or crumbs of white bread, similar in cooking technology to bread pudding. And the second is that charlotte, which I now propose to you to bake - lush, soft and tender, like a biscuit; with apple slices, cinnamon scent and light icing sugar on a thin, crisp crust!

This charlotte is also called “apple pie-five minutes”, although it is baked not 5, but all 25 minutes - but it is prepared very quickly and simply. That is why the sponge cake with apples is the most favorite cake during the autumn tea parties. What a quick and with a minimum of products to bake a family for breakfast, kids for afternoon tea; to the arrival of unexpected guests? Of course, charlotte! While you chat at the table, just the charlotte will be ready.

I offer you a basic recipe for charlottes, and you can vary it countless times!

First, the dough for charlotte can be prepared not only from wheat flour, but also with the addition of corn, oatmeal, buckwheat, and nut (in half with wheat). Each time the charlotte will be obtained with a new taste!

Secondly, in the dough, in addition to different types of flour, you can add various spices: cinnamon or vanilla; turmeric ginger! You can even pour cocoa, there will be a chocolate charlotte - but the classic version, in my opinion, is better. But if you put a couple of spoons of poppy or chopped nuts in the dough, it turns out very tasty!

Then, not only apples can be added to the cake, but also any seasonal fruits and berries. I tried a charlotte with pears and plums; with cherries and apricots, raspberries, strawberries! And each option is different in its own way. But let's start with apple sharlotka.

Ingredients for charlottes with apples on a form of 20-24 cm:

3 large eggs;
150-180 g of sugar (incomplete 200-gram glass);
130 g of flour (1 cup without top);
1 tsp. a baking powder (or 1 tsp. soda, to extinguish with 9% vinegar in flour);
1 / 4-1 / 2 tsp. cinnamon;
2-3 tbsp. l powdered sugar for decoration;
5-7 medium apples.

Cooking Charlotte with Apples

Charlotte tastes best with sour-sweet fruits of green and yellow varieties: Antonovka, Granny Smith, Simirenko, Golden. Loose apples are not very suitable for this cake: they “melt” in the dough, and the taste will not be the same.

Since the dough for charlotte is biscuit, you need to bake it immediately after cooking so that the fluffy mass does not settle. Therefore, the apples and the form is best prepared in advance. We also get eggs from the fridge in advance: when they are at room temperature, they are beaten into a lush mass.

Wash apples, clean from hearts. If you are in a hurry and the peel of apples is not very hard, you can not clean it. But still, I advise you to spend a little more time and peel the skin, then the charlotte will turn out much more tender!

Cut the peeled apples into small cubes or slices as you like. So that the apples do not darken during the preparation of the dough, you can sprinkle them with lemon juice.

Charlotte is convenient to bake in a detachable form: then a lush, tender cake is easy to get and put on the dish. I tighten the bottom of the form with pastry parchment - just like the canvas for embroidery is put on the hoop: I put the paper over the bottom of the form, then put on the sides and close, and cut off the excess paper. Then the parchment and the walls of the form slightly smear with unscented sunflower oil so that the charlotte does not stick. In the absence of parchment, grease the form with butter and sprinkle with flour or breadcrumbs.

If you do not have a detachable form, the charlotte can be baked in a solid metal form or even in a cast-iron pan, only then it will be a little more difficult to get it. But it is quite possible to chop a charlotte in the form and eat right from there. If you bake in silicone - you can get the charlotte only after it has completely cooled, otherwise part of the dough will remain stuck to the form.

The shape and apples are prepared, it is time to turn on the oven to warm to 180-200 ° C.

Prepare dough for charlotte. Eggs start beating with sugar, first at the minimum speed of the mixer; in 30-45 seconds we switch to the middle one and then to the maximum one. In total, beat for 2-3 minutes, until the mass becomes light and very lush (two to three times more compared to the original volume).

Sift flour mixed with baking powder into beaten eggs and gently mix from bottom to top in circular motions. Cinnamon can be added to the flour or sprinkle it with apples.

Apples can be poured into the form and pour the dough on them - or put directly into the dough and mix gently.

In the first case, you get a gentle apple layer at the bottom of the charlotte, in the second, the fruit will be distributed evenly. There is a third option - pour out half of the dough, then pour out the apples and pour them with the second half of the test.

Is the dough spread with a thick wide ribbon? You did everything right!

We put the form in a preheated oven and bake a charlotte at 180 ° C for about 25-35 minutes. After 10 minutes you can gently look into the oven. If charlotte is in no hurry to rise and blush, slightly add the heat (up to 190-200 ° C); if on the contrary, the upper crust is already flush, and the middle is still liquid, we slightly reduce the temperature to 170 ° C. You can cover the form with a charlotte with foil so that the top does not burn while the middle is baked. The exact temperature will be different for each oven, so be guided by the type of cake: when the crust turns golden brown and the wooden skewer leaves the dough dry, the charlotte is ready.

We give the charlotte 5-10 minutes to cool in the oven: if you get it right away, the biscuit can settle a little from the change in temperature. Then let it stand in the form of another 10 minutes: it is easier to remove the parchment from the cooled cake than from the warm one.

Having opened the form, move the charlotte to the dish. I turn it over onto the lid of the pan, take off the parchment, cover the cake with the dish and turn it over again.