Charlotte aux pommes is an 18th century classic recipe named after the German wife of King George III of England who was said to have a special affinity for apple growers. According to this link, charlottes were “invented” in England. It’s a molded dessert, traditionally baked in a mold called a “charlotte mold” (affiliate link) that has two handles and slightly flared sides. You could use individual ramekins as well.Charlotte aux pommes consists of a layer of toasty bread around the outside with apple compote in the center. It sounds like a blend of apple pie and bread pudding.
Use apples that are firm, such as Golden Delicious, to help hold the charlotte’s shape. This tip comes from Julia Child who made this charlotte on live television in the 1960s on her series called "The French Chef" and watched it collapse after unmolding it.
"One of the secrets of cooking is to learn to correct something if you can, and bear with it if you cannot." ~Julia Child
Charlotte aux pommes is typically served with crème anglaise, which is also a classic dessert sauce dating back to the 19th century.
Crème anglaise contains sugar, yolks, milk, and vanilla, but it can be flavored with all sorts of delicious things such as cardamom, rum, chocolate, ginger, chamomile, brandy, Grand Marnier, espresso, or even stout! Crème anglaise is a “stirred” custard as opposed to a “baked” custard. It must be stirred constantly so that it doesn’t curdle at the bottom of the pan or overcook. Because it’s stirred, it doesn’t thicken as much as a crème brulée or crème caramel which thickens in the oven.
It’s a rich, smooth sauce that can be served warm or cold. It is also common as a base for making ice creams.
Calvados Calvadosis an apple brandy from the Basse-Normandie region of France.
Crème anglaise contains sugar, yolks, milk, and vanilla, but it can be flavored with all sorts of delicious things such as cardamom, rum, chocolate, ginger, chamomile, brandy, Grand Marnier, espresso, or even stout! Crème anglaise is a “stirred” custard as opposed to a “baked” custard. It must be stirred constantly so that it doesn’t curdle at the bottom of the pan or overcook. Because it’s stirred, it doesn’t thicken as much as a crème brulée or crème caramel which thickens in the oven.
It’s a rich, smooth sauce that can be served warm or cold. It is also common as a base for making ice creams.
Calvados Calvadosis an apple brandy from the Basse-Normandie region of France.
Given that I only needed about 5 tablespoons, I went to the local liquor store looking for the smallest bottle I could find. For $45, I could have a 750 mL sized bottle! And that was the lowest priced bottle I could find. One that had been aged for 30 years in French oak casks would set me back almost $300. So, I settled for dark rum instead.
Recipe: Charlotte aux pommes, crème anglaise au Calvados (Apple Charlotte served with Calvados custard sauce)
Apple Compote
3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and diced
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
¼ cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9-10 slices firm white bread
½-¾ cup clarified butter
You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).
Here's a useful video of Julia Child plating this dessert.
3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and diced
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
¼ cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9-10 slices firm white bread
½-¾ cup clarified butter
You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).
Here's a useful video of Julia Child plating this dessert.
Recipe: Crème Anglaise
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons dark rum
Here's another useful video on making Crème anglaise.
Recipe: Apricot Glaze
⅓ cup Apricot Jam
1-2 tablespoons water
½ tablespoon dark rum
You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).
Clarified butter
Clarified butter is also known as “drawn butter”. Here are some pros and cons of using clarified butter:
It keeps longer because it doesn’t have the milk in it to go rancid.
It has a higher smoke point.
It has a buttery taste that oils don’t have.
It doesn’t have the rich flavor of regular unsalted butter.
Melt the unsalted butter slowly in a saucepan over low heat. Don’t stir. Let it sit so that the milk solids and water separate from the butter fat. Skim the foam from the surface. Remove from the heat and let stand a few minutes until the milk solids settle to the bottom. Carefully pour the clear yellow liquid (the clarified butter) into a container, leaving the milk solids in the bottom of the saucepan; discard the solids.
Clarified butter is also known as “drawn butter”. Here are some pros and cons of using clarified butter:
It keeps longer because it doesn’t have the milk in it to go rancid.
It has a higher smoke point.
It has a buttery taste that oils don’t have.
It doesn’t have the rich flavor of regular unsalted butter.
Melt the unsalted butter slowly in a saucepan over low heat. Don’t stir. Let it sit so that the milk solids and water separate from the butter fat. Skim the foam from the surface. Remove from the heat and let stand a few minutes until the milk solids settle to the bottom. Carefully pour the clear yellow liquid (the clarified butter) into a container, leaving the milk solids in the bottom of the saucepan; discard the solids.
A stick (8 tablespoons) of butter will produce about 6 tablespoons of clarified butter. For the apple compote, you will need about 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter.
Variations:I’d like to try experimenting with this recipe using pears or different bread, such as Brioche. Some cinnamon, lemon peel, and nutmeg would be nice. Maybe some raisins and a different flavored crème anglaise. I’d also like to try serving this in individual ramekins.
Tasting Notes:
“It’s better than apple pie” was what my 8 year old said! Now that’s a compliment. The crunchiness of the toasted bread, coupled with the bite of the apple compote and the smooth, richness of the crème anglaise made this dessert absolutely delicious. Another keeper!
Since I don't have a Charlotte mold, I used a 4-cup soufflé dish (affiliate link) and a 4-cup fluted pudding mold. Both worked fine, and the fluted one even looked scalloped after baking. However, my structure of bread didn’t hold up very well. Next time, actually dipping the bread in the clarified butter and using more bread for the walls would be better. As you can see from the picture, the Charlotte needs more reinforcement!
. . . . . . . . . .
Running total: $180.66 + $7.94 (Charlotte) + $2.07 (Crème anglaise) + $.99 (Apricot glaze) = $191.66
Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 19.5 tablespoons
More to Explore:
9 comments:
This sounds scrumptious. What could be better than a pairing of bread pudding and apple pie? Love the photo!!
bread pudding + apple pie = scruptious, plus it has a fancy name! and i love the pic of the little glass of creme anglaise.
i never knew that's the proper pronunciation of calvados. i always imagined it as cal-VA-dos.
What a gorgeous dessert!
I love Creme Anglaise! Yours looks so creamy and perfect! Wonderful photos as well!
Welcome to The Foodie Blogroll!
After more research, I've found that Calvados is NOT pronounced CALvado, but has the accent on the end and the final-S is pronounced (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rochers%20du%20calvados). You can hear the pronunciation in the following link:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?roche02g.wav=Rochers du Calvados
Thanks for making me do my homework!
leftover queen - Thanks for adding me to The Foodie Blogroll. I'll start working on my blog entry.
Its official - Charlotte aux pommes has shot past apple pie as my favourite dessert. Wicked-scrumptious. You could say that I'm developing a "special affinity" for apple BAKERS!! haha
I just stumbled on your site looking for an Apple Charlotte recipe. OMG, I just LOOOVE your visual ingredient list. WHERE has this approach been all my life?! Thank you!!!
Post a Comment