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  These days, the coulis has been replaced by the curd - lemon, passionfruit, and even mandarin - dotted around the plate.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!

Shortcut Dobos Torte Recipe

I was really lucky growing up as I had a Mum who loved to bake. She was always in the kitchen making some tasty treat or a delicious dessert.  And best of all, she allowed me to help.  I learnt all the foundations of baking from watching and helping my mother.  I learned to measure ingredients precisely, to have a light touch when making scones and pastry, to fold egg whites delicately, to melt chocolate gently over heat, to make sure all the sugar dissolves when creaming butter and making meringue, to be vigilant about baking times, and to let things cool properly.  These lessons have served me well over the years and my baking failures have usually been the result of not following one of these rules.

My Mum's baking bibles were her little green recipe book containing the recipes she had collected over the years, and the Margaret Fulton Cookbook - a staple in most Australian households in the 1970s, just like the Abba "Arrival" album. 

One of my favourite dessert recipes from her little green recipe book is for Shortcut "Dobsch" torte.

Dobos torte originates from Hungary and is a multi-layered cake filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel.  My Mum's version used a pre-bought sponge cut into three layers and filled and coated with a chocolate and whipped cream mixture.  It was always a winner in our family. 

Here is my version, which involves making a cornflour sponge first.  It is less of a shortcut than my Mum's recipe but definitely less complicated than the original.

Shortcut Dobos Torte

Sponge

4 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup cornflour
pinch salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 drops vanilla essence

Filling/Coating

225g dark chocolate
1 tsp black coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water
2 tbsp brandy
1 and a 1/2 cups of whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with unsalted butter and dust with flour.  Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together on a high speed for at least 10 minutes until thick and fluffy.

Meanwhile sift the cornflour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.   Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.  Divide the mixture evenly between the two sandwich tins and smooth the tops.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  You will know the sponges are cooked when they have come away from the sides of the tins, and spring back to the touch. 

Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a clean tea towel.  When completely cool, wrap the sponges in cling film and put in the freezer until firm (at least 1 hour). 

Cut each sponge into three layers using a serrated knife.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over gently boiling water.  You need to make sure that all the chocolate is melted otherwise little lumps with show up in the chocolate cream.  Add the coffee to the melted chocolate and stir until smooth.  Stir in the brandy.  Set the chocolate aside to cool.  Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in the cooled chocolate.

Using a palette knife, spread each layer generously with chocolate cream and then put the layers together.  Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate cream.  Chill the cake in the fridge for several hours until firm.  Serves 12 if you like small pieces, or 8 if you love to eat cake!