My taste of home: Apple Charlotte

 

 This is a very special recipe – it’s my mother’s and one of her favourites.

SERVES 4

125g butter

350g Bramley apples

350g Cox’s apples

2 tbsp sugar

a little grated lemon zest, to taste

6-8 slices white bread, about 5mm thick, crusts removed

custard, clotted cream or

ice cream, to serve 

• Grease a pudding basin, about 15cm in diameter and 10cm deep, with plenty of the butter. Peel, core and finely slice the apples. Rinse in cold water and put them in a saucepan with the sugar, lemon zest and 30g of the butter. Cook to a pulp over a low heat and then beat to a purée with a wooden spoon. Allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

• Melt the remaining butter.

• Dip each slice of bread into the butter and then line a pudding basin with about three-quarters of the slices. Pack them in tightly and don’t leave any gaps. Spoon in the cooled apple purée and cover with the remaining buttered pieces of bread and gently push down.

• Tightly cover the pudding with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 8-10 minutes until the top is golden brown. Leave the pudding to rest for 5 minutes before turning out on to a serving plate. 

• Serve with custard, clotted cream or ice cream.

TIP I love the clean taste of apple and lemon in this, as cooked by my mum, but you could add a good pinch of ground cloves or some ground cinnamon, if you like.