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Sharlotka Apple Cake

February 23, 2020 by Carine Clary 4 Comments

Sharlotka Apple CakeCharlotte, or in Russian – Sharlotka, was allegedly invented by a French chef working for the Czar and it’s the distant cousin into Charlotte Russe which is a fancier dessert where the sponge cake in the form of ladyfingers surrounds the fruit and cream in the center. In fact, they seem a little too distant to be kissing cousins but nevertheless, if you know any Russians they’ll tell you they love Sharlotka Apple Cake so on to the prep!

Tips & Tricks

This cake is easy and fast and will cook up perfectly if you pay attention to a few tips. First tip is to use hard tart apples. They will soften in the oven but will hold their shape. Granny Smith are good. Cortland, McIntosh, and Delicious not good, although I did once make it with Delicious (they were on sale) and it was fairly OK if somewhat mushy.  Second tip is to use lemon juice (and a little lemon zest if possible) on them and mix well with the two tablespoons of sugar. This will enhance flavor and the sugar will mix with the juice coming from the apples to create a little caramelization on the bottom during the bake.

Sharlotka Apple Cake

Sharlotka Apple CakeOther tip is to beat hard then fold. What that means is that you want to beat the eggs and sugar (along with the flavorings) until pale yellow because without baking powder it’s the egg whites that will lift the cake and cause it to rise. Once that’s done gradually sift the flour by thirds over the wet ingredients and gently fold in until all the flour is combined.

Sharlotka Apple CakeFinally, you’ll want to spoon or pour this mixture over the apples you’ve laid in the bottom of a spring form pan, smooth out the top and let bake for about 55 minutes or until the top is brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Once cooled it’s good plain or with sweetened vanillaed whipped cream. For extra flavor add some lemon or orange zest.

Sharlotka Apple CakeAnd there you have it – all except the cuppa Joe to go with!

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Sharlotka Apple Cake
 
Print
Author: Carine Clary
Cuisine: Russian
Ingredients
  • Butter or nonstick spray, for greasing pan
  • 3 large tart apples
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (to coat the apples)*
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons to coat apples
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. almond extract
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon**
  • ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • Powdered sugar, to sift over the top
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan.
  2. Peel, halve and core your apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks or you may slice them, whichever you prefer. Toss with the lemon juice and the two tablespoons of sugar and put in the pan.
  3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then sift and fold in flour with a spatula until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
  4. Pour over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter & press it down so that it covers all exposed apples. The top of the batter should end up level with the top of the apples. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a tester comes out free of batter. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then remove springform pan. You may leave the parchment paper on the bottom or ease it sideways out from under and place on a cake stand or plate.
  5. Dust with powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.
Notes
*The lemon flavor really makes this so don't omit.
**Cardamom is a good substitute for cinnamon (or as an addition)
3.4.3177

 

Filed Under: Cakes, Russian Tagged With: apple cake, apple sponge cake, cake, Sharlotka, Sharlotka Apple Cake

Toasted Pecan Caramel Cake

October 2, 2017 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAToasted Pecan Caramel Cake is usually a massive three-layer assault on your pancreas’ insulin-producing capabilities. Some famous TV chefs have even developed diabetes as a result (no names please).

And why does it have to be that way? Go to a fine restaurant and you’ll frequently be gifted with a caramel or two with your after-dinner coffee. Intense and small, it’s the Danny DeVito of desserts. So why can’t the cake follow suit? You just don’t need a lot of this to get your sugar on and if you do there are always seconds as long as you slice ’em thin.

Oil-based instead of butter

Just as tasty but more modest in its dimensions is this two-layer version which I scaled down from the usual three. Also, it’s an oil-based cake as opposed to a butter cake. I tried a few versions of the butter kind, but oil-based seems to complement better the taste of the nuts and caramel.

And to make it more interesting

It has yogurt and a little almond extract to go along with the vanilla flavoring.

The Icing

After trying the heavy gooey caramel icing I opted for a lighter fluffier version that you spread over the cake instead of drizzling. It’s simple as I could make it – Toasted Pecan Caramel Cake – a plain vanilla batter studded with toasted ground pecans and a nimbus of salted caramel icing.

Enjoy!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Toasted Pecan Caramel Cake
 
Print
Author: Carine Clary
Cuisine: Southern
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • For the cake:
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup plain full-fat yogurt (or sour cream)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • 2 cups sifted cake flour
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup toasted pecans coarsely ground (half for the cake, another half for the icing)
  • For the icing:
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 2½ tablespoons water
  • ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1½ sticks of butter
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
  1. For the cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350.
  3. Toast pecans for 5 minutes and coarsely grind.
  4. Butter 2 seven-inch baking pans. You can also line the bottom with parchment buttered on both sides.
  5. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  6. Mix eggs and sugar for about 1 minute till fluffy & pale in color.
  7. Add vanilla & almond extracts to the yogurt.
  8. Alternate adding small amounts of the flour mixture and the milk. Beat until just combined.
  9. Add oil and mix until combined, then add nuts.
  10. Divide batter between the two pans and cook for about 35 minutes until light brown and pulled away from the edges.
  11. For the icing:
  12. Cook the sugar and water over a medium flame until amber (about 8 minutes).
  13. Take it off the flame slightly before it reaches the stage of darkness that you want. It will continue to cook from the pan's retained heat.
  14. Now stir in ½ a stick of butter and when it is melted, stir in the cream, salt, and vanilla and set aside.
  15. In a mixer beat, 1 stick of butter well and gradually incorporate the powdered sugar.
  16. Add the cooled caramel mixture and finally stir in the chopped pecans.
Notes
Don't overbeat this after adding the flour or it will develop gluten and be a little too firm. The ingredients should be thoroughly mixed but that's it.

Without the nuts this is a good basic white cake recipe which you can vary by adding different extracts or by substituting flavored olive oils for the oil called for in the recipe.

You can grind the nuts in a food processor but I prefer one of those small hand grinders that they have at most stores that carry cooking utensils. The reason for this is that with the hand grinder the nuts fall to the bottom when they are ground. With a food processor, they can quickly turn into nut butter if you pulse too many times.
3.4.3177

 

 

 

Filed Under: Bastille Day, Cakes, Christmas, Desserts, Fourth of July, Mardi Gras, New Year's, Revillon, Southern, Thanksgiving Tagged With: cake, caramel icing, pecans, Southern, toasted pecan caramel cake, toasted pecans

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Hello, I'm Carine Clary and I'm the FrangloSaxon.

And is that a word? In a word - Yes! It reflects my French connections in the south part of the state and the Anglo Saxon ones on the Arkansas state line. I grew up eating & loving all the foods of Louisiana and the idea is to collect lots of them right here on this website.

What you'll find here is food that reflects everybody's cooking. Creole we know. Cajun we know. But how about Croatian or Vietnamese....or Italian or German....or the underestimated plain Southern food they do so well in the upstate parishes?

They're all part of who we are so pull up your chair and join me for some good eats!

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