Apple Charlotte and questions.

[madmax]

I found this recipe at www.williamsandsonoma.com What size are mini-charotte's? After the recipe I listed what I found. They come in a variety of sizes. I don't want to buy one too big or too small. Don't ya hate it when they don't give deminsions!! All the sizes also come with lids but, the directions don't say bake with lid, duh...

Apple Charlotte
After making several apple charlottes from recipes that never turned out quite right, Chuck Williams turned to James Beard for some advice. He said to always use crisp Golden Delicious apples, peeled and sliced evenly. Then sauté them in butter, sugar and vanilla until the apples are cooked through and any liquid has evaporated. Line a charlotte mold with slices of country-style bread that have been lightly coated with clarified butter. Then spoon in the apple slices and bake until golden. This recipe is adapted from the one that Chuck Williams and James Beard developed in 1980.

For the charlotte
4 lb. Golden Delicious apples
3 Tbs. unsalted butter plus 8 Tbs. (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-lb. loaf country-style white bread, sliced crosswise into slices 1/4 inch thick
1 cup heavy cream, sweetened and whipped

For the caramel sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat an oven to 400°F. Peel, quarter and core the apples and cut into thin slices. In a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt the 3 Tbs. butter. Add the apples, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and the juices evaporate, 20 to 25 minutes.

To make the clarified butter, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the 8 Tbs. butter until the milk solids separate from the fat. Skim the solids from the top, drain the clear butter into a dish and discard the milky solids.

Remove the crusts from the bread slices. With a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 4 circles of bread. Fit a circle into the bottom of each of 4 mini-charlotte molds. Cut the remaining slices into 2-by-3-inch pieces to make at least 25 pieces. Brush both sides of each piece generously with clarified butter. Fit 5 or 6 pieces of bread, standing upright, into each mold, overlapping the pieces. Spoon about 1/4 cup cooked apples into each bread-lined mold, packing the apples firmly to the rim. Fold the bread tops into the center, overlapping each other, and set the molds on a baking sheet.

Bake until the tops are golden and very crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove the charlottes from the molds.

To make the caramel sauce, combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts, comes to a boil, and turns light brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir for 15 seconds to cool. Add the heavy cream (caramel will bubble up), and stir until smooth.

Transfer charlottes to individual dessert plates, top side up, and serve warm drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Serves 4. Sounds heavenly!!!!

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[chefgirl]

1. Hmm....looks like you found what you were looking for

The few Charlotte molds I've seen (culinary school) were about 7 or 8 inches around at the widest. Those were considered regular Charlotte molds, I would assume.

From reading the recipe (where it tells you to cut out a 2 inch round for the top of the mold) and from the dimensions you posted at the bottom, I would say you've found what you were looking for.

Now, the reason I'm replying is because I just wanted to tell you that with the amount of work involved, you couldn't pay me enough to make mini-charlottes. Not only that, a lot of what makes a Charlotte work is the weight of the apples laying on themselves as they cook and condense, so it would seem to me that mini-charlottes might not have the density to compact themselves quite so nicely. Therefore, there's more room for error.

I read the recipe fairly closely, and it seems to me to be very adaptable to a regular sized Charlotte mold (just by changing the sizes when you cut the bread to line the sides and top) Doesn't sound to me like you would really have to change anything else. Just be sure to leave enough room for the bread to fold over onto itself when you fill the mold with the apples. Also, make sure that when you line the sides of the mold, that the bread slices kind of fold in a little bit at the top, so that when you invert the final product, all you see is the circle that you put at the top of the mold. This also prevents your Charlotte from leaking.

If it were me, I would make the full sized one, unless of course you were looking for individual desserts to serve, in which case my whole reply is moot. LOL.

Good Luck

-chef-

[madmax]

2. I was hoping you'd see this post and reply

:) I think I'll go for the one larger size. I appreciate the time you spent reviewing the recipe and your input. You're a sweetie! I'd make you a Charlotte any day ;)

I'm just starting to get into the baking thing and I'm somewhat neurotic when it comes to directions - I won't deviate unless someone else says it's ok.

Planning a test run before Christmas I'll let you know if Charlotte leaked ;)

[chefgirl]

3. Great!

And I'll take you up on that Charlotte anytime! ;)

Hope you have good luck with it, and please DO let me know how it turned out.

-chef-

And a P.S. - about being new to the whole baking thing. The best advice anyone ever gave me was to give myself 'permission' to make mistakes. Its a good thing too, because I've made a million of 'em.
I probably made 50 piecrusts before I finally found the 'touch'. Now I never make a bad one.
So, if it doesn't turn out right the first time, keep trying. Its worth it, plus you can still eat the screw ups! :)