Dr Mobeus
Apple Charlotte
An apple charlotte is what happened in every British kitchen when there was a bag of cooking apples and the end of a loaf: bread soaked in butter, lined round a tin, and packed with stewed apple. Baked until it turns into a golden shell, it slices like a pudding that costs six times as much.
The whole thing comes in at about £1.75 for six portions, roughly 29p each. Cooking apples are one of the cheapest fruits in the shops, a value white loaf covers the bread, and the only other things you need are butter and sugar, which most kitchens already have.
The flip out of the tin is the moment that makes people think you are showing off. Rest the pudding properly, be confident, and even a slightly cracked charlotte tastes exactly as good as a perfect one.
Apple Charlotte
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan) and butter a 1 litre pudding basin or a 20cm round cake tin well, then set aside.
- Cut the bread into fingers roughly 4cm wide. Dip each one quickly in the melted butter on both sides and line the base and sides of the tin, overlapping the pieces so there are no gaps. Keep a few pieces back for the lid.
- Put the apples in a pan with the sugar, cinnamon if using, and the water. Cook over a medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes until just soft but still holding some shape. Taste and add a little more sugar if your apples are very sharp, then cool for 5 minutes.
- Spoon the apples into the bread-lined tin, packing them down lightly, and pour over any juices. Cover the top with the remaining buttered bread, pressing the edges together to seal.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the bread is deep golden and crisp and you can hear a faint bubble of juice underneath.
- Rest for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn the charlotte upside down onto a serving plate in one confident flip. Serve warm with custard or a splash of cream.
Tips and Variations
Stale bread is actually better here because it soaks up butter without going soggy, and a pudding basin gives the classic tall shape while a cake tin gives a wider, shallower version that cooks a little faster. Add a handful of blackberries or sultanas to the apples, or a spoon of mincemeat in winter. Leftovers reheat well in a low oven for 10 minutes to crisp the bread back up.
