Szarlotka – Polish Apple Cake

Step 1

Cut the apples into rough 2 cm pieces, you want them large enough that they retain their shape when they cook down.

Step 2

Transfer the cut apples into a sauce pan, add the juice of the lemon, plus ½ of the sugar. The apples need to cook down with the sugar and juice until the juice evaporates. Cook on low heat for approximately 10 minutes. Stir them occasionally, otherwise when you bake the cake in the oven the apples will go soggy and be too soft.

Step 3

Once the apples cook down, take the saucepan off the heat and let them cool down completely.

Step 4

Combine sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, egg yolks, butter and thickened cream in a large mixing bowl. Time to get your hands dirty! Knead the ingredients into a dough, it will take approximately 10 minutes for a soft dough to form.

Step 5

Cut the pastry in half and press it between two sheets of baking paper. Roll the pastry to the size of the baking tray. The pastry will rise so it needs to be roughly 0.5 cm in thickness prior to baking.

Step 6

Transfer the pastry into the baking tray and press it out to the edges with your fingers if the pastry does not make it to the edge of the baking tray.

Step 7

Bake in a 180-degree oven for 10 minutes until it is slightly golden brown. Sprinkle it with the bread crumbs, this helps stop the base getting soggy from the apples.

Step 8

Place the second half of the pastry onto a piece of baking paper and roll it out quite thin. It needs to be thinner than the bottom half otherwise you will have too much cake and not enough apples.

Step 9

Add the cooled apple mixture to your cake tin, cover the cake with the second layer of rolled out pastry.

Step 10

Bake in a 180 degree, (pre-heated) oven for about 40 min, until you see the top of the cake turn golden brown.

Step 11

Let it cool down and cut into even pieces.

Step 12

Once the cake has been cut sprinkle generously with icing sugar and ENJOY!!!