Szarlotka: Polish apple crumble pie

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This pie might be close to perfection: Sweet but not too sweet at all, fruity, fresh, with a hint of originality and exoticism from spices… It crumbles onto pieces under the fork and melts in your mouth.

Since my friend Agnieszka taught me how to cook it, this Polish take on the apple crumble pie has been a favourite in many birthdays, teas and picnics. And it’s not difficult to prepare. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

-About 1 kg apples (around 5). I prefer the Granny Smith acid kind.
-3-4 eggs
-2 and 1/2 glasses of (bakery) flour
-400gr. butter
-Cinnamon (ground)
-Cardamom (ground)
-1 teaspoon of yeast/baking powder (full)
-1 glass of powdered brown sugar (or caster sugar).
-Lemon juice
-Salt

Note: Sugar and cardamom can be powdered with a blender.

Separate eggs’s whites from yolks. Keep whites in the refrigerator, with a pinch of salt (this will make them easier to beat until stiff later). Melt about 400gr butter slowly in a pan (with a slight pinch of salt). Mix with flour, half a glass of powdered sugar, a full teaspoon of yeast/baking powder and yolks. You must get a plastic dough suitable to work with, if it’s not the case, add one more yolk, butter or flour. (It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a little extra dough).

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Peel and grate apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent them from oxidizing or browning. Beat the egg whites you had stored in the fridge until stiff. Mix them with the grated apples, the cardamom, cinnamon and maybe a half glass more of powdered brown sugar.

Grease an ovenproof dish with butter and powder it with flour. Cover the bottom and the sides with dough, sparing a ball. Put the ball in the freezer for a couple of minutes or more so it hardens a bit. Toss evenly the apple mix over the cake dough in the dish. When everything is ready, grate the rest of the dough on top of it.

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Bake at 160º-170ºC for an hour (It varies a lot depending on the oven and how thick ingredients are laid. It also has worked for me 200ºC for 40 minutes, just keep an eye on it).

Et voilà!

PS.: If someone has another apple crumble recipe, don’t keep it to yourself! We’d love to hear about it.

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2 Responses to “Szarlotka: Polish apple crumble pie”

  1. Raulgorta says:

    No soy muy habil con la repostería pero esta tarta tiene una pinta fantaliciosa.Dziekuje!

  2. Maï says:

    Nunca había oido hablar de este patel, tiene pinta !!!
    Una pena que la respostería no sea lo mío, o quizás sea que la paciencia no es mi mejor virtud…

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