Apple Charlotte

Yum. In my top 3 fave cakes (along with Pavlova and Polish baked cheesecake). This is a recipe I got from mum, who has been making this since I remember.

Szarlotka
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500 g plain flour
8 eggs
250 g butter, softened
300 mL (yeah...go figure) sugar
6 large Granny Smith apples, cored/peeled, quartered and sliced approx. 5 mm thick
Extra sugar (to taste) to sweeten apples
Cinnamon
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Layer apples, sprinkling each layer with sugar to taste, in a sieve. Cover and leave to drain over a bowl while you make rest of cake.

Bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Break eggs, separate yolks and carefully slide each yolk into simmering water (I do it off a tablespoon). Simmer until hard (but don't overdo it). Cool and press yolks through a sieve.

Chop butter into flour until resembles breadcrumbs. Add yolks and sugar, and combine with hands into a dough (add a little water if needed). Take a bit over half the dough and roll to fit a square oven dish/tin (about lasagne dish size).

Fill with apples (discard drained liquid). Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon.

Roll out rest of dough and cover apples, sealing the edges. (You can save any offcuts to make decoration/s for top of cake!)

Prick all over with a fork (I go in lines like a farmer's field).

Bake until golden brown in a 180 degree C oven (about an hour).

Serve (warm or cold) sprinkled with icing sugar and with cream (whipped or not).