Individual Apple Charlotte Recipe

What was it about the 1990s and coulis?  Every restaurant dessert used to come with either raspberry, mango or apricot coulis.  These days, the coulis has been replaced by the curd - lemon, passionfruit, and even mandarin - dotted around the plate.  Food definitely has trends and in ten years' time we will wonder why we were all so obsessed with cupcakes and macarons.  I'm not quite sure what marked the start of the cupcake trend, but the macaron obsession started after the release of the movie "Marie Antoinette" in which most of the characters seemed to exist on a diet of dainty, pastel coloured macarons and champagne. 

It's interesting how popular culture, fashion and interior design influence food.  Apricot, peach and pink were big 1990s colours, and they appeared on the plate and in people's houses.  I know as, until 3 days ago, I used to have an apricotish pinkish kitchen.  May I say for the record that the kitchen came with the house, and was not the result of any deliberate colour choices by me.  I now have a new kitchen in white, white, glorious white. 

As a farewell to my former kitchen which is now sitting in a skip bin outside my house, and a homage to the 1990s obsession with the colour apricot, here is a really simple 1990s recipe for individual apple charlottes with apricot sauce. They are easy to prepare and look great on the plate.  The apricot sauce is not a coulis as it does not contain sugar or vanilla extract, but it does the trick when you're in a rush.

Individual Apple Charlottes

12 slices white bread
200g unsalted butter
4 granny smith apples
60g caster sugar
large pinch of cinnamon
4 cloves
1 large can of apricot halves in natural juice

You will need four dariole moulds.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. 

Remove the crusts from the bread and roll each slice until completely flat.  Use a dariole mould to cut four discs of bread, which will be used to line the base. 

Next, using the dariole mould as a guide, cut four slightly larger tops.  It is important that the top of each apple charlotte is larger than the top of the dariole mould as the bread tops shrink during cooking.  With the remaining bread, cut four evenly sized strips and then cut each strip in half. 

Melt 150g of the butter.  Dip the bread bases into the butter and press into the dariole moulds. 

Dip the strips into the butter and then line the dariole moulds with the strips, overlapping as you go.  Trim off any excess bread.

Peel and core the apples, and then cut into very thin slices.  Melt the remaining butter with the sugar, then add the apple, cinnamon and cloves.  Cook the apples over a high heat until they are soft and dry.  It is important that all the liquid has evaporated, otherwise the bread will swell during cooking and the apple will burst out over the top of the moulds.

When the apple mixture is ready, remove the cloves, and then pack tightly into the moulds.  Dip the four bread tops in butter and then press gently over the apple.  Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Meanwhile, blend the apricots and juice until smooth.  When the apple charlottes are cooked, turn them out onto a plate and surround with apricot sauce.

For an extra 1990s touch, gently pour whipping cream around the edge of the sauce and, using a skewer, swirl the cream into the apricot sauce.  Ah, it takes me back!

Pin It