Description
Borrowing from the French classic, this Old Fashioned Apple Charlotte is a rustic, country-style dessert brimming with fresh apples, buttered baguette, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, and brown sugar—crispy, buttery, and perfect with ice cream!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1/2 baguette, sliced into half inch rounds (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
- 6 to 7 baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, plus more for the top
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, divided
- 1 cup fine breadcrumbs or panko
- pinch of salt
- additional butter, for greasing the pan
Instructions
- Peel and cut your apples, tossing with lemon juice to avoid browning due to oxidation. Reserve.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (190°C). Generously butter a nine-inch tart pan.
- Line the bottom of the pan with your baguette slices then brush with melted butter. Tear pieces if there’s extra space and fill any gaps. If your pan is deep enough, you can line the sides too.
- Toss the breadcrumbs with a few tablespoons of melted butter until evenly coated. Add a couple of handfuls of buttered breadcrumbs to the bottom of your pan and distribute to fill any gaps between the slices of bread. Press lightly. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss the cubed (or sliced) apples with 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Add cinnamon to taste. (I wanted it VERY heavy with cinnamon.)
- Scoop the apples into the prepared pan, pressing lightly so they settle into the bread lining.
- Add 1 tablespoon brown sugar to buttered breadcrumbs Sprinkle and press, over the apples. Add generous sprinkling of cinnamon over the breadcrumbs. Drizzle the remaining melted butter, distributing evenly, over the top.
- Bake for 45 – 60 minutes, until the apples are tender, the top is deeply golden, and the edges are crisp.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm, ideally with ice cream, custard or softly whipped cream.
