Got some spare slices of bread hanging about? Transform them into a sweet apple dessert.
Ingredients
We’re well and truly into apple season now, and what better way to celebrate this crisp fruit than in a baked dessert?
Rick Stein’s recipe for apple charlotte is simple but delicious – if you’re feeling like amping things up a bit, add your favourite spices such as cloves or cinnamon.
Serves: 4
- 125g butter
- 350g Bramley apples
- 350g Cox’s apples
- 2tbsp sugar
- A little grated lemon zest, to taste
- 6–8 slices white bread, about 5mm thick, crusts removed
- Custard, clotted cream or ice cream to serve
Method
- Grease a pudding basin, about 15cm in diameter and 10cm deep, with plenty of the butter. Peel, core and finely slice the apples.
- Rinse in cold water and put them in a saucepan with the sugar, lemon zest and 30g of the butter. Cook to a pulp over a low heat and then beat to a puree with a wooden spoon. Allow to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C.
- Melt the remaining butter. Dip each slice of bread into the butter and then line a pudding basin with about three quarters of the slices. Pack them in tightly and don't leave any gaps.
- Spoon in the cooled apple puree and cover with the remaining buttered pieces of bread and gently push down.
- Tightly cover the pudding with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further eight to 10 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Leave the pudding to rest for five minutes before turning out on to a serving plate. Serve with custard, clotted cream or ice cream.
Rick Stein At Home: Recipes, Memories And Stories From A Food Lover’s Kitchen is published by BBC Books. Photography by James Murphy. Available now.
