Munchie Monday: Apple Charlotte – 50th Recipe

It is not surprising that the Macculloch-Miller family has several charlotte recipes in the family’s 19^th century handwritten cookbook.  Charlottes were a popular 19^th century dessert, served either hot or cold.  The earliest known English recipe for charlotte can be found in Maria Rundell’s (1745-1828) New System of Domestic Cookery published in 1808. Some believe that the charlotte was named for Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of King George III.

Bread, sponge cake or in the case of the French dessert, Charlotte Russe, ladyfingers are used to line a dish or mold.  The filling used in a charlotte is either custard or fruit puree. This recipe is the 50^th recipe recreated and adapted for the modern kitchen, since beginning the Macculloch-Miller Recipe Project in June 2020.

 

Original Recipe—Charlotte

Stew any kind of fruit, soak some slices of bread in butter, put them while hot on the bottom and round the sides of a dish, that has been rubbed with butter. Put in your fruit and lay slices of bread, prepared in the same manner on the top. Bake it a short time. Turn it out. Sprinkle over it, powdered sugar.   Feb. 2d 1849.  GMM

 

Adapted Recipe—Apple Charlotte

6-8 apples (approximately 3 lbs. of apples), peeled, cored, and cut

½ cup sugar

1 1/4 sticks of butter (10 tablespoons)

1 loaf of bread (Brioche or Mrs. Macculloch’s white bread), crust removed

1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, core, and cut apples into large chunks. Melt three tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add apples, stir then add sugar and cinnamon (optional). Cover and cook for 20 minutes until apples soften. Remove from heat and let cool.

Prepare a 2 ½ quart round casserole dish with butter by greasing the sides and bottom. Remove crusts from bread slices. In a skillet, warm 2 tablespoons of butter on medium-low heat. Place two or three slices of bread into the skillet at a time and after 1 minute flip bread slices. Warm bread slices for another minute then remove bread from skillet and arrange to fit in the bottom of the casserole dish. Bread slices should be well-saturated. Repeat this step, warming butter in the skillet and preparing bread slices to line the sides and bottom of casserole dish. Press down bread slices. Some overlapping is fine.

Pour apple mixture into the bread-lined casserole dish. Warm 4 or 5 bread slices in the skillet with butter and use these to cover the apples.  Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool. Serve with powdered sugar, whipped cream, or ice cream.