Szarlotka
Szarlotka is Polish Apple Crumb cake. This delicious apple crumb cake was taught to me from my wife, who got it passed down from her mother. Trust me when I say this cake is better the second day after you make it, so please consider making this ahead of time. I think it’s in part because after baking it, it draws moisture back in from the air and the flavors have more time to blend together or something like that. You know it’s science, so I’m 100% sure that’s accurate, no need to question it. Either way it’s delicious from the moment it comes out of the oven! For this recipe you will need a 9 x 9 inch square baking pan (or one similar in area) , rolling pin, grater and some saran wrap.
Ingredients :
(dough)
500g flour (1.1 lbs by weight) (can substitute gluten free flour)
225g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (2 sticks)
1 egg
200g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (in Poland or if you have a Polish grocery store near you, we use 1 packet of vanilla sugar instead)
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sour cream (in France I used crème fraiche, but greek yogurt works also)
(filling)
8 Granny Smith apples (will need to be peeled and shredded)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
* powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for topping as desired
Directions :
(dough)
Time to build a volcano. On a large clean surface make a mound out of all the flour, leaving a crater like opening at the peak for your egg later. Spread the sugar around the sides and then do the same with the baking powder. Cut your butter into about 1/2 tbsp pieces and spread that around the outside of the mound as well. Crack your egg into the crated you have created at the top of the mountain. At first with a long knife, begin folding in the flour mixture, from the outside bottom edge into the center at the top. Then slice gently into to the mixture to help break up the dough and butter clumps. Keep doing that from all sides several times until it starts to form clumps and no loose flour mixture . You can eventually use your hands to form the dough once it begins to mix well. Continue to knead the dough until you have a well blended smooth ball. Take the ball and make a thick log or cylinder out of it. Cut in half. Leave one half out and take the other half, divide that part into 4 equal pieces, wrap each separately in saran and put in freezer. With the half of dough left out, roll it into approximately a 9x9 square piece to fit the size of your baking pan. Make sure it is as even as you can. Ideally its a bit smaller to make transferring into the pan easier. Once you have it rolled out, loosely roll it onto the rolling pin. Then you can carry and place into the baking pan (to help it keep its shape without breaking apart). Use your fingers to gently force the dough into the corners and along the edges to evenly cover the pan. If you need to, you can cut some excess from one edge and add it to any gaps.
(filling)
Wash and peel all of the apples. Using the large holes on the grater (see below),
shred all the apples into a large bowl Once you are done shredding, discard the cores. Working with one handful at a time, squeeze out the juice and then loosely spread the apple shreds into the baking dish. Don’t pack it down but try to cover the entire area evenly. (In progress picture below)
Once the baking pan is covered in apple shreds, sprinkle the cinnamon and then sugar evenly over the top. Now it’s time to take out the dough from the freezer, but only one section at a time. Clean your grater from the apple shreds before using on the dough. To make the crumb topping we are going to shred the frozen dough. Using each piece of frozen dough, shred again using the large grater holes and cover a quarter of the pan at a time. Also in this step, again be sure not to pack down but make sure to cover the area evenly. See picture below :
Once you have taken all of the frozen dough and covered the dish in loose shreds, bake at 180* C for 40 minutes (that’s 350* F for you Americans, lol). Promptly remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, generously dust with powdered sugar and cover with foil until use. I find that this will keep for several days on the counter covered in foil, but can be kept for much longer in the fridge if necessary. I recommend at least for the first few days to cover in foil and leave out of the fridge. Enjoy !
