Recipe no. 496 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 225.
Ingredients
- Reinette apples, fine ones
- Butter, the size of an egg
- A vanilla pod
- White wine, half a glass
- Caster sugar, a few pinches
- Apricot marmalade, a few spoonfuls
- A slightly stale sandwich loaf
- Clarified butter
Preparation
- Slicing and cooking the applesFinely slice fine reinette apples that you have peeled and cut into quarters, removing the pips. Put them in a saute pan with a knob of butter the size of an egg, a vanilla pod, half a glass of white wine and a few pinches of caster sugar; set on the heat, and cook while stirring with a spatula.
- Adding the apricot marmaladeWhen they are fully cooked mix in a few spoonfuls of apricot marmalade.
- Lining the bottom of the mouldOn a slightly stale sandwich loaf, cut a slice about 3 millimetres thick and perfectly round, so that it fits exactly the bottom of the mould you have chosen; the mould being buttered, dip the bread slice on one side only in clarified butter and apply it, that side down, to the bottom of the mould.
- Lining the sides with breadAlso cut small slices of bread of the same thickness, about 4 centimetres wide and 2 centimetres longer than the height of the mould. Dip these slices in the butter as you did for the bottom one, and apply them against the sides of the mould, overlapping them.
- Filling and bakingThe mould being lined, fill it with the prepared apples; put on top a round slice of bread cut like the one at the bottom. Push into a fairly hot oven, not taking the charlotte out until the bread is thoroughly crisp and golden, and firm enough that it does not collapse when unmoulded. It should stay about 45 minutes in the oven.
- Taking out and unmoulding carefullyIt is good to take it out a few minutes before unmoulding it; there is always less risk of it collapsing. Unmoulding should take place only just when ready to serve.
Reboul's text
Finely slice fine reinette apples that you have peeled and cut into quarters, removing the pips. Put them in a saute pan with a knob of butter the size of an egg, a vanilla pod, half a glass of white wine and a few pinches of caster sugar; set on the heat, and cook while stirring with a spatula.
When they are fully cooked mix in a few spoonfuls of apricot marmalade.
On a slightly stale sandwich loaf, cut a slice about 3 millimetres thick and perfectly round, so that it fits exactly the bottom of the mould you have chosen; the mould being buttered, dip the bread slice on one side only in clarified butter and apply it, that side down, to the bottom of the mould.
Also cut small slices of bread of the same thickness, about 4 centimetres wide and 2 centimetres longer than the height of the mould. Dip these slices in the butter as you did for the bottom one, and apply them against the sides of the mould, overlapping them.
The mould being lined, fill it with the prepared apples; put on top a round slice of bread cut like the one at the bottom. Push into a fairly hot oven, not taking the charlotte out until the bread is thoroughly crisp and golden, and firm enough that it does not collapse when unmoulded. It should stay about 45 minutes in the oven.
It is good to take it out a few minutes before unmoulding it; there is always less risk of it collapsing. Unmoulding should take place only just when ready to serve.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| burre | butter |
| vaniho | vanilla |
| vin | white wine |
| sucre | sugar |
| pan | bread |
| espatulo | spatula |
| four | oven |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 496, page 225. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.