Apple Charlotte

Looking up "apple charlotte" in English yields recipes that look like a mix between an apple dumpling and an apple pie.  This recipe, instead, is for a Russian apple charlotte.  Russian charlottes are less dense than American ones, and also have a more simple flavor profile.  The current ingredients are not 100% authentic, since Russian charlottes usually don't have yoghurt or sour cream, instead opting to neutralize the baking soda with vinegar.  I hope to make a few more versions of this recipe with different fillings as well as different dough composition.

In this recipe the ratio of dough to apple can be adjusted easily.  The given proportions are for an apple-heavy dish, maybe a 5:1 ratio.  The current dough is very eggy, almost like challah.

Ingredients:

♕ .75kg apples of moderate to low sweetness, like granny smith, golden delicious, and/or gala
♕ 1 cup/150g flour
♕ 1/2 cup/60g sugar
♕ 1 t/5g baking soda
♕ 1/2 cup/60g sour cream or yoghurt
♕ 3 eggs
♕ 1.5 t/7mL vanilla extract

Procedure:

♕ Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C
♕ Get a cooking vessel, like a bundt pan or a deep dish cooking tray.  Grease it and coat the inside with breadcrumbs.
♕ Peel and core the apples.  Slice into very thin sheets.
♕ In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients, and before adding apples, stir in the two wet ingredients.  Stir to make a dough, stopping as soon as it is homogeneous.
♕ Place the cut apples on the baking vessel, leaving space between the slices to let the dough go between them.
♕ If you wish, push raisins into the dough, or garnish with nuts or spice.
♕ Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Once the top has browned nicely, remove from heat and let cool under a cotton cloth.
♕ Serve warm or cold.  Since it's Valentine's Day, I melted some chocolate and used that to trace designs on the top.