Apple Ciarlotta -- Ciarlotta di Mele
Some ciarlotte are creamy puddings that gain substance from cake or fruit (or both), but there are many variations on the theme. In this case there are stewed apples and no cream; Artusi says that if it's made with care it will be quite elegant, and perfect for company.
See Also
A creamy ciarlotta
Other recipes with apples
About Puddings and other recipes
Peel, core, and quarter the apples, setting them to soak in a bowl of water into which the lemon has been squeezed.
Remove the quarters, pat them dry, and cut them crosswise into fine slices. Set the apple in a pot over the fire, with just the piece of cinnamon. When they begin to dissolve, add the sugar and stir them constantly till they're cooked. Discard the cinnamon and use the apples as follows.
Melt the butter over the fire, and when it is hot, sauté the bread slices. Use them to line a round, smooth sided mold, taking care to leave no holes. Pour the apples into the mold, cover them with more bread, and cook the whole as you would a pudding, placing coals on the lid covering the Charlotte (in Artusi's day few people had ovens; now you will want to bake the charlotte in a 350 F (175 C) oven for about a half hour). Keep in mind that the bread need only be lightly browned, and serve hot.
Artusi closes with, "You can vary or complicate this dessert as you see fit. For example, you can scoop out a depression in the apples and fill it with apricot preserves, or interlayer the apples with other kinds of marmalades, or even interlayer it with the bread. You could also line the mold with shortbread instead of bread."
See Also
A creamy ciarlotta
Other recipes with apples
About Puddings and other recipes
Ingredients
- 1 pound (500 g) reinette apples (this is a homely variety with blotch yellow wrinkled skins that is excellent cooked)
- Enough 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) slices of bread with crust removed to line a pudding mold
- Fresh, good quality unsalted butter
- A piece if stick cinnamon
- Half a lemon
- Prep Time: 100 minutes
- Total Time: 100 minutes
Preparation
Reinettes are preferable because they are soft fleshed and sweetly scented; in their absence, use a similar variety. Were this marmalade to be kept for a long period, twice as much sugar would be necessary. However, as it will be used immediately, a quarter of the weight of the whole apples will suffice.Peel, core, and quarter the apples, setting them to soak in a bowl of water into which the lemon has been squeezed.
Remove the quarters, pat them dry, and cut them crosswise into fine slices. Set the apple in a pot over the fire, with just the piece of cinnamon. When they begin to dissolve, add the sugar and stir them constantly till they're cooked. Discard the cinnamon and use the apples as follows.
Melt the butter over the fire, and when it is hot, sauté the bread slices. Use them to line a round, smooth sided mold, taking care to leave no holes. Pour the apples into the mold, cover them with more bread, and cook the whole as you would a pudding, placing coals on the lid covering the Charlotte (in Artusi's day few people had ovens; now you will want to bake the charlotte in a 350 F (175 C) oven for about a half hour). Keep in mind that the bread need only be lightly browned, and serve hot.
Artusi closes with, "You can vary or complicate this dessert as you see fit. For example, you can scoop out a depression in the apples and fill it with apricot preserves, or interlayer the apples with other kinds of marmalades, or even interlayer it with the bread. You could also line the mold with shortbread instead of bread."
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