Sharlotka (Apple Cake)
| Prep Time: 60 min | Serves: 8 |
| Cooking Time: 30 min | Yield: 1 ten inch cake |
Russian style apple cake. *This is an organic whole grain version of recipe posted in the article: http://www.salon.com/food/francis_lam/2010/02/07/russian_apple_cake_sharlotka/index.html
Ingredients
- 1 cup Organic Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Fair Trade Certified Raw Cane Sugar
- 3 egg
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 25 g Butter
- 650 g Braeburn Apple
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Peel, core, and cut apples into ½-inch dice, and toss with enough lemon juice so that the tartness hits you first, and then fades to the apples' sweetness, probably about ½ a lemon's worth.
3. Whisk eggs to combine them, and whisk in sugar until you can't feel it crunching anymore. Add flour and a full, finger-and-thumb pinch of baking soda, and whisk to combine into a thick batter.
4. Heavily butter a 10-inch round pan; a frying pan works beautifully. "I never saw a cake pan in Russia," Kevin says. "And I feel like using a frying pan kind of fits -- quick and improvisational, you know?" Add the apples and spread them out, then pour the batter on top. Shake the pan a little to even it all out.
5. Bake it until you get a puffed, light sandy brown with a craggy surface, and a toothpick comes out clean, except for bits of apple. Check the cake after 30 minutes, but depending on your pan, the baking may take up to 45.
6. When it's ready, set a large plate upside down over the pan, and with towels or oven mitts, hold the plate and pan together, flip, and give it a good shake so the cake falls onto the plate. If it's stuck in the pan, use a thin spatula or knife to loosen the edges of the cake. The bottom-now-top of the cake should be a deep, caramelized brown.