Dinner with Julie

Jacques Pepin’s Skillet Apple Charlotte

You may recall I met Jacques Pepin last week, sort of. And he taught me how to cook this apple Charlotte. Well, there were a hundred or so other people in the room.

What I loved about this particular demonstration of French cooking was that it involved a pan, apples, butter, syrup, and day-old buttered bread. And his fingers. There was nothing high-fallootin’ about it, no proper techniques. It did not smack at all of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, with all its trussing and duck deboning and gellée. I can’t even think of a cooking technique one might learn from this particular dish of apples in a pan, topped with toast, except to demonstrate that you can take the most humble of ingredients and turn them into something wonderful. That, and it’s all in the branding. (If you sauteed apples, put sliced bread on top and baked it, would you think to label it a skillet apple Charlotte? Sounds far fancier than the sum of its parts, no?)

I must confess to messing up right off the bat: my cast iron is 9-10 inches, not 7-8. I forgot to compensate with more apples.

I totally blew off his advice to use a) sandwich bread, opting for a dense, chewy white loaf instead, and trimming only the slightly thicker bottom crust. I further did not lay them on a surface and make them into a round the size of the pan – I just laid them on top of the apples.

Next time – tomorrow morning, maybe? – I’ll lay French toast on top. Don’t you think?

Then all you do is bake the lot until it’s bubbly and the bread is all toasty. But the final measure of brilliance is in the topping – sour cream, not sweetened whipped. How have I not thought of this? On something as sweet as a tarte Tatin or apple Charlotte, it makes perfect sense to dollop a thick and smooth but slightly tangy cream on top. It was divine. That Jacques knows his stuff.

Skillet Apple Charlotte

adapted from Jacques Pepin

3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into sixths
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp honey or Roger’s Golden Syrup
3 Tbsp butter
4 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 tsp sugar
sour cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400°. In an 8-9 inch cast iron skillet, arrange the apples snugly, cored side up. Add the maple syrup, honey and 2 tablespoons of the butter and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until the apples are tender, 5 minutes.

Uncover and cook over high heat, shaking the pan a few times, until the liquid is evaporated and the apples are caramelized, about 7 minutes.

Arrange the bread slices in a square on a work surface. Trim the corners of the slices to form a round the size of the skillet. Spread the bread with the remaining butter.

Arrange the bread over the apples, buttered side up, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until the bread is toasted. Invert the Charlotte onto a plate.

Cut into wedges and serve warm with a dollop of sour cream. Serves 6.

June 08 2011 | dessert | 13 Comments »