Apple and vanilla charlottes

British recipes Apple and vanilla charlottes with custard recipe

delicious magazine
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Date Published:
25/09/2007

Everyone will love this fruity recipe. The apple charlottes are best served immediately while the buttery bread casing is hot and crisp - and good custard is a must.

Serves 6
Takes 40 minutes to make and 30-35 minutes in the oven

Ingredients

  • 2kg Bramley apples
  • 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
  • About 175g unsalted butter
  • 225g caster sugar, to taste, plus extra for decorating
  • About 500g loaf unsliced fresh white bread
  • Good-quality custard, to serve

Nutritional Information

Per serving:
702kcals
26.5g fat (16.5g saturated)
8.6g protein
114.3g carbs
74.6g sugar
1.2g salt

Method: How to make apple and vanilla charlottes

1. This step can be done in advance. Quarter, core and peel the apples and slice them into a saucepan. Add the vanilla pod and seeds along with 6-8 tablespoons water and 50g of the butter. Cover and cook over a low heat until the juices start to flow. Uncover, increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the apples have completely broken down. Return the heat to low and continue to cook for 15 minutes, stirring, until the purée has cooked down and is stiff. (It shouldn't be juicy as this will make the bread soggy.) Remove the vanilla pod, stir in the sugar to taste and set aside to cool.

Tip

As bread loaves vary in size, and the yield from apples is never exactly the same, this recipe errs slightly on the generous side.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Cut off and discard the crusts from the bread loaf and cut into 3mm-thick slices. You will need approximately 21 slices – 31/2 slices per charlotte.

3. Melt the remaining butter in a small pan over a low heat – do not stir. Set aside for a few minutes, then skim any scum from the surface. Pour off the clear clarified butter into a bowl and discard the milky-white solids at the bottom of the pan.

4. Brush 1 side of each slice of bread with the clarified butter. Cut 12 of the bread slices into discs (7-8cm in diameter) so that they fit snugly into the bottom of 6 x 200-250ml soufflé dishes. Quarter the remaining slices. (Make them the same depth as the dishes.) Push 1 disc of bread, butter-side down, into the base of each dish and line the sides with the bread squares, butter-side outwards, overlapping them slightly.

5. Fill the soufflé dishes with the apple purée to within 3-4mm of the top of the bread. Fit the remaining discs, butter-side outwards, inside the edge of the upright bread slices to completely encase the purée. Transfer the dishes to a baking tray and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread is crisp and golden.

6. Carefully turn the apple charlottes out onto warmed plates and sprinkle generously with caster sugar. Serve warm with a good-quality custard.

© delicious. magazine

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Comments

  1. Being a Yank and not a British Citizen, I am already at a disadvantage. If anyone has the capacity for pity and would send to me a converter from metric to "typical American Standard" forms of measurements for baking or cooking - I would be nearly, eternally grateful. Do not forget it would be criminal to allow another mere human, to pervert one of Chef Ramsey's celestial creations! Tuesday, has been declared the National Day in which all those blessed by the great Almighty to be born British, are to offer intellectual aid to those less fortunate. Please choose me for your heavenly appointed duty to one in need. My most humble thanks, J.D.
    Posted by Julie on 07/05/2009 03:42:12
    Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment

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