Apple charlotte has more than a million published variations, and nearly every home cook has a favorite. This roundup covers three: a classic fluffy sponge studded with apples, an English-turned-French version with a crisp bread shell and rum, and a quick "lazy" take made from stale loaf bread.
Classic apple charlotte without yeast
This version produces a light, airy sponge with juicy apple pieces inside.
- 4 tart apples
- 5 eggs
- 200 milliliters flour
- 100 grams sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
- 2.5 teaspoons vinegar, to quench the soda
- salt to taste
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla sugar
Baking powder can replace the soda and vinegar; about 1.5 to 2 teaspoons, roughly 10 grams, sifted into the flour works for this quantity of eggs. Cinnamon, ginger or cardamom can be added for extra flavor.
Beat the eggs with salt, sugar and vanilla sugar until pale and thick, then fold in the flour. Quench the soda with vinegar and add it to the batter; the reaction creates bubbles that make the sponge rise. The batter should be thin enough to slide slowly off a spoon.
Peel and dice the apples just before folding them in so they don't brown, then pour the batter into a greased or lined tin and press the apples lightly into the surface. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius until risen and golden, then drop the temperature to 150 degrees with only bottom heat until done, roughly 40 to 50 minutes total. Test with a skewer, cool in the tin for 10 to 15 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar or top with berries or caramel sauce.
The dessert's history
Charlotte's story begins in England in the late 18th century, where it was not a sponge cake at all but a baked pudding of stale bread, butter and stewed apples. It is thought to be named after Queen Charlotte, who was known for her interest in gardening and, according to legend, for supporting apple orchards.
In the early 19th century the French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, who cooked for European royalty, reworked the pudding into an elegant chilled dessert, lining a mold with ladyfinger biscuits and filling it with Bavarian cream. He named it Charlotte à la parisienne before renaming it Charlotte russe, or "Charlotte the Russian way." Some accounts trace that name to the Russian emperor Alexander I, whom Carême cooked for, while others say it simply reflected a 19th-century fashion for labeling anything refined as "Russian."
The dessert reached Russia in that aristocratic form, prepared by French chefs at balls and imperial dinners before spreading to middle-class kitchens and simplifying over time. In the Soviet era it had a second life as a symbol of homely comfort: a simple, dependable apple sponge.
French-style charlotte with rum
This version comes from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Its signature trick is a bread shell that turns crisp and caramelized in the oven, while the filling is a thick apple puree with rum and apricot jam rather than sliced apples, so the finished dessert can be cut into neat slices instead of falling apart.
For the filling: 5 apples, half a cup of apricot jam, 1 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, a quarter cup of dark rum and 3 tablespoons of butter. For the bread shell: 10 to 12 square slices of dense white bread, half a centimeter thick and 10 centimeters long, plus about a cup of butter. For the glaze: half a cup of apricot jam, 3 tablespoons of dark rum and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Quarter, peel and core the apples, slice them about 3 millimeters thick, and simmer covered on low heat for around 20 minutes until soft. Uncover, add the jam, sugar, vanilla, rum and butter, then raise the heat to medium and cook, stirring almost constantly, until the liquid evaporates and the puree holds its shape on a spoon, about 20 more minutes.
Cut one square and four half-moons of bread to fit the base of the mold, fry them lightly in butter and line the bottom. Cut the remaining bread into 3-centimeter strips, dip them in butter and line the sides, overlapping and trimming the edges. Fill the mold with the apple puree, mounding it about 2 centimeters high in the center, and cover with the remaining butter-soaked strips.
Bake at 220 degrees on a tray at middle level for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Let it rest 15 minutes before turning it out; if it looks unstable, cover it again and wait five more minutes. Mix the remaining jam and rum with enough sugar to make a thick glaze and brush it over the top. Serve warm or cold with custard or whipped cream.
The custard calls for 500 milliliters of milk, 4 egg yolks, 100 grams of sugar, 40 grams of flour, 50 grams of butter and vanilla to taste. Whisk the yolks with the sugar, flour and vanilla until smooth, then whisk in milk that has been brought almost to a boil. Return the mixture to the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens, about 5 to 7 minutes, then stir in the butter and press plastic wrap onto the surface as it cools to stop a skin forming.
Lazy charlotte made from loaf bread
This shortcut version uses 300 grams of stale crustless wheat bread, 5 apples, 2 eggs, 250 milliliters of milk, 3 heaped tablespoons of sugar, 40 grams of butter for greasing, cinnamon to taste, 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar.
Cut the bread into roughly 2-centimeter cubes, drying them in the oven first if the loaf is very fresh. Whisk the eggs, milk and sugar together and pour it over the bread, leaving it for 20 to 25 minutes so the cubes soften without turning to mush. Peel, core and dice the apples to match the bread, dust with cinnamon, then fold them gently into the soaked bread; add a splash more milk if the mixture looks dry.
Grease the baking dish with butter and coat it with breadcrumbs for a crisp base, then spread the mixture in evenly. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until golden, checking with a skewer. Cool slightly, cut into portions, dust with powdered sugar and serve with sour cream, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
What to use instead of apples
Any dense fruit that won't turn to mush in the oven can fill a charlotte. Pears work well and bring a softer, honeyed flavor; tossing them in cinnamon stops them browning, and a tablespoon of sliced almonds adds aroma. Firm plums and peaches are a better bet than overripe ones, which collapse into pulp; thin plum slices pair especially well with walnuts and nutmeg.
Bananas can be mashed and mixed with apple or pear pieces, or used on their own for a result closer to banana bread. Wild and garden berries need more care since they release a lot of juice that can leave the batter soggy inside; tossing them in starch first absorbs the extra moisture. Cranberries, lingonberries, raspberries, blueberries and currants all work particularly well this way.
