We all love pies and cakes. Sweet and not so sweet, with choux pastry, puff and shortbread, yeast and yeast-free, quick to prepare and those whose recipes take days, with fruit, meat, chocolate, fish. But always so different and so loved.

Charlotte: concept and origin

Initially, charlotte is a dessert pie made with baked apples. The main ingredient of charlotte is always apples. In the classic version, charlotte includes a bread-like dough, custard, a little liquor and fruits (mainly apples). Why is charlotte one of the most famous and beloved pies? The answer is obvious - because of the ease of preparation and the relative cheapness of the product. And, of course, thanks to the delicate and pleasant taste. Over the years of the existence of the recipe, it has spread not only throughout Europe, but has also become loved in all corners of the planet.

France is considered to be the birthplace of charlotte, however, the traditional recipe with apples was invented in the UK. Culinary experts still cannot agree on the origin of the name. According to one version, Charlotte got its name in honor of the beloved of a pastry chef who was hopelessly in love with a girl named Charlotte. Another version says that the cake was dedicated by the court cook to the wife of the monarch George III - Charlotte. Who was a famous lover of apple orchards and apples. She was especially fond of sour varieties, as well as ranet apples.

An interesting fact is that all over the world, charlotte is commonly called Charlotte Russe (English) and Charlotte a la russe (French), that is, Russian charlotte.

Varieties of charlotte

It is customary to say about charlotte: "how many housewives - so many charlotte recipes." Indeed, it is simply impossible to count all the recipes! The truth is that charlotte can be made from an old roll, or it can look like a cake. It entirely depends on the hostess and on the occasion. There are as many additives to charlotte as there are charlottes themselves.

The most delicious and interesting varieties of charlotte: with honey and spices (such as cinnamon), charlotte with butter, chocolate-banana, dietary and vegetarian (without butter and eggs), charlotte with sugar crust, pineapple and charlotte with raisins, charlotte with with the addition of pears, with walnuts and plums. The list of varieties of charlotte is endless.

The taste of charlotte depends not only on the ingredients, but also on the method of its preparation, for example, charlotte can be baked in the oven, fried, cooked in the microwave, pressure cooker and slow cooker.

Cooking features

The ideal charlotte should be fluffy and not wet. And here the main thing is not to overdo it with the amount of fruit. It is always worth remembering that during the baking process, any fruit will release juice abundantly and the dough may simply not bake well due to excess moisture released by the fruit.

And if the charlotte does not turn out lush in any way, then you can add baking powder, slaked soda (soda is quenched with vinegar), or kefir. They fill the dough with bubbles, and it will turn out more magnificent. You can also try putting fruit not on top, but on the bottom of the pie.

Berry charlotte

The recipe for charlotte with berries is not much different from the standard recipe with apples, but still has its own secrets. We present a recipe for charlotte, which is suitable for any seasonal berries: blueberries, cherries, lingonberries, cranberries. You can mix them together, add apples and spices to them. The only limit is fantasy. Consider the recipe for charlotte with berries using the example of the option with cranberries and blueberries. Just a meal!

Ingredients (for six servings):

  • Wheat flour of the highest grade - 250 grams.
  • Chicken eggs - 4 pieces.
  • Sugar - 210 grams.
  • Blueberries and cranberries - 80 grams of each berry.
  • Vanilla sugar - 20 grams.
  • Baking powder - half a tablespoon (can be replaced with the same amount of slaked soda).

The process of cooking charlotte with berries in the oven:

First, put sugar (both vanilla and regular) in a large bowl and break the eggs. We mix the ingredients with a mixer (you can use a whisk, but a mixer is faster). Beat until the mixture becomes lighter and has increased in volume by about a third.

Separately, it is necessary to sift the flour through a sieve, mix it with the baking powder and slowly add to the mixture of eggs and sugar. At the same time, gently mixing (preferably with a wooden or silicone spatula).

In a form with a diameter of 20-25 centimeters, you need to lay parchment paper. Pour half of the batter into the mold. Sprinkle it all with berries.

In order to cook charlotte with frozen berries, they should first be defrosted. Pour the second half of the dough. If desired, part of the berries can be replaced with sour apples. It will come out even tastier. The top needs to be leveled so that the fruit does not stick out, as in the picture.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius for 40-50 minutes. Until a nice golden brown is formed. In order for the cake to brown, you can brush it with egg white during baking. Charlotte with berries remains only to cool.

Sprinkle the finished cake with powder, put a small ball of ice cream on top, add jam to taste. The cake is ready, bon appetit!

Charlotte in a multicooker

This is a great holiday dessert. Charlotte with fresh cherries is very refreshing even on a hot summer day. It can be served with iced tea or soda.

Grocery list:

  • wheat flour - 250 g;
  • sugar - 220 g;
  • chicken eggs - 4 pieces;
  • butter - about 60 g;
  • baking powder - a teaspoon;
  • berries and apples - to taste.

This is a recipe for charlotte with fresh berries. A pie cooked in this way in a slow cooker turns out to be lush and juicy.

Cooking steps:

  1. Wash apples and berries. Peel apples and cut into small pieces. Apples can be omitted.
  2. It is necessary to turn on the multicooker and melt the butter in it, grease the edges of the multicooker.
  3. Using a mixer, beat the sugar with the eggs until the sugar dissolves. Next, start slowly adding the flour and baking powder. Preliminary it is better to mix the sifted flour with baking powder.
  4. The dough should be homogeneous, similar in texture to sour cream.
  5. Put the first layer of dough into the multicooker. Approximately 1/3 of the mass.
  6. Top with fresh cherries and apples. Pre-removing the bones from the berries.
  7. Pour the rest of the dough on top.
  8. Put the multicooker on the "Baking" mode, for about 45 minutes.

It remains only to put the cake on a serving dish and decorate.

Charlotte dough

There are many different ways to prepare this dish. The dough for charlotte with berries can also be different. Above are the bread dough recipes. But what else is the dough for a delicious treat?

There are a large number of varieties of making a pie with berries. Dough is made for charlotte with berries on kefir, milk, sour cream, mayonnaise. There is also charlotte on shortcrust pastry and puff pastry.

Berry charlotte with shortcrust pastry

In general, the recipe differs only in the way the dough is prepared. Shortbread dough is kneaded from one egg, 250 grams of butter or margarine, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. After that, half of the kneaded dough should be put in the refrigerator to rest. And distribute the second half in a greased form. Lay the berries on top, remove the second half from the refrigerator and cover them. Cook in the oven at 180 degrees. Bake 40 minutes.

Berry charlotte on kefir

This charlotte will be "wet" and melting. To prepare the pie, one glass of kefir, two glasses of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder and a glass of sugar are useful. Beat eggs and sugar until foamy, add baking powder. Eggs, beaten to a state of foam, mix with kefir. Pour in the flour. Divide the resulting dough into 2 parts. Pour the first part into the prepared form, lay out the berries and close the second part.

What to serve with?

An excellent addition to the pie can serve: whipped cream, jam, ice cream. And tea!

Delicate, fragrant and very tasty homemade cakes - charlotte with berries. This is a cake based on biscuit dough, which can be cooked in a conventional oven and in a slow cooker. Classic charlotte baked with apples. No less tasty are the “results of experiments” with blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries, and grapes.

Recipe 1. On a classic dough, with garden berries

A step-by-step recipe for such charlotte is great for cooking in the oven and slow cooker. Cooking time - 80 minutes, the ingredients are designed for 8 servings, 100 grams contain 226 kcal, in the whole charlotte - 1693 kcal.

Ingredients:

  • 300 g of berries (100 g of raspberries, black and red currants);
  • 5 eggs;
  • 180 g (incomplete glass, in one glass - 220 g) sugar;
  • 140 g (1 cup) flour;
  • vanillin.

Advice! You can replace garden berries with forest ones.

Step by step recipe:

  1. Break the eggs into a bowl, add sugar and vanilla to them, beat with a mixer until the sugar grains are completely dissolved. The mass should turn into a white foam with a creamy tint. Whipping time depends on the power of the mixer - the more it is, the faster the foam will appear.
  2. Add the sifted flour to the beaten mass. This should be done in parts, while stirring the mass with a spoon from the bottom up. You need to mix in one direction and not for very long, otherwise the biscuit will turn out to be not lush. If the dough is cooked correctly, then it will drain from the spatula in a wide ribbon.
  3. Wash the berries and dry, roll in flour.
  4. Grease a baking dish with butter. If using butter, be sure to sprinkle it with flour on top and only after that lay out the dough.
  5. Put berries and dough alternately in the form, or you can just mix everything in a bowl and only then lay it out.
  6. Preheat the oven, put the mold with the dough in it and bake the cake for 45-50 minutes at 180°C.
  7. You can cook charlotte in a slow cooker. Pour the dough into the bowl and turn on the “Baking” mode for 60 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on the power of the multicooker.
  8. Check the readiness of the pie with a wooden toothpick, skewer or match - it should come out of the dough dry. It is also impossible to overdry charlotte, it should be tender and juicy.
  9. Leave the cake in the tin or bowl for 10 minutes and then remove. From a multicooker - using a steamer.
  10. Cool and cut into pieces.

Advice! The better the eggs and sugar are beaten, the more magnificent and tender the finished dish tastes. For the same reason, be sure to sift the flour. You can add 1 teaspoon of baking powder to the flour for the same purpose.

Recipe 2. On kefir

Charlotte on kefir according to this recipe is light, with sourness. Berries can be taken any, one variety or completely different.

Advice! Currants with apples go well in charlotte. It is not recommended to mix cherries with something else, as it has a rich taste and will kill all others.

Charlotte with frozen berries will turn out to be no less tasty than with fresh ones.

Ingredients:

  • half a liter jar of berries;
  • 180 g of kefir (you can take homemade yogurt or cream);
  • three quarters of a glass of sugar;
  • 1 egg;
  • 1 tbsp mayonnaise (optional);
  • half a teaspoon of soda;
  • vegetable oil (for greasing the mold);
  • one and a half cups of flour.

Advice! If apples are used for the filling, cinnamon will emphasize and complement their taste. You can add it to the dough, sprinkle apples before baking or after the cake is removed from the oven.

Step by step recipe:

  1. Turn on the oven and put in it the dishes in which you will bake charlotte. Pour the dough into a hot mold.
  2. Mix kefir with egg, mayonnaise (optional) and soda.
  3. In small portions, while stirring, add the sifted flour. You can add cinnamon or vanilla. The dough should be quite liquid.
  4. If adding apples, peel them, remove the core and cut into cubes. Currant berries can be added whole, gooseberries and cherries, due to their large size, must be cut.
  5. Remove the form from the oven, grease with vegetable oil and pour the dough with berries into it.
  6. Place the cake in the oven and bake at 180-190°C for about 20 minutes. After 15 minutes, open the oven and check the readiness of the charlotte with a toothpick: if the dough does not stick to it after piercing, the biscuit is baked.
  7. Sprinkle the finished charlotte with powdered sugar or grease with icing, as in the photo.

Glaze preparation:

  1. Take half a glass of powdered sugar and add one and a half tablespoons of water to it.
  2. Constantly stirring, heat the future glaze to 40 ° C (if you touch the mixture with your finger, it should be hot enough, but tolerable).
  3. Lubricate the charlotte with icing.

Recipe 3. Strawberry-curd charlotte without baking

According to this recipe, a uniquely tasty, delicate, airy, but at the same time simple dessert is prepared, which is very popular with children and sweet tooth. Cooking the dish will not take much time and even novice cooks will succeed, since such a charlotte with berries does not require baking.

Ingredients:

  • 200 g cookies (biscuit, NOT shortbread);
  • 20 ml orange fresh or liqueur;
  • half a kilogram of cottage cheese;
  • 15 g of gelatin;
  • 100 g (half a glass) of sugar;
  • 350 g cream (fat content 35%);
  • half a lemon;
  • 250 g strawberries;
  • vanillin;
  • powdered sugar.

Step by step recipe:

  1. Put the cookies on a plate and fill with liquor (fresh). Leave to soak.
  2. Pour gelatin into a bowl and fill it with water. Leave for 15 minutes to swell.
  3. In a saucepan, heat a little 2 tbsp. cream and add swollen gelatin to them. Keep the mixture on low heat until the gelatin crystals are completely dissolved. Boiling is not allowed!
  4. Mix cottage cheese with the remaining cream (which is without gelatin) and granulated sugar, add vanillin.
  5. Wash and dry the strawberries, leave a few berries - they will decorate the charlotte. Grind the rest with a blender.
  6. Combine the mashed strawberries with the curd-cream mixture.
  7. Mix the dissolved gelatin with the strawberry-curd-creamy mass, mix well.
  8. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon, grate the zest and add everything to the mass.
  9. Lay a detachable baking dish along the sides with cut biscuit cookies, you should get a “fence” around the perimeter. Place cookies cut side up.
  10. Cut the strawberries left for decoration lengthwise and lay them in the shape of a flower on the bottom of the mold. Put the curd mass on top and level its surface.
  11. Place in the refrigerator for 40 minutes.
  12. After the time has elapsed, take it out, spread the remaining cookies on the surface of the mass and place it in the refrigerator again (for 6 hours).
  13. After six hours, remove the treat from the mold and garnish with whipped cream with powdered sugar using a pastry bag.

Advice! A pastry bag can be replaced with an ordinary plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner.

Strawberry-curd charlotte is served to the table with a milk or fruit cocktail, tea, milk.

Many have stocks of berries in the freezer that can be used to make jelly, compotes, desserts or your favorite pastries. Today I propose to cook a delicious, fragrant Charlotte with frozen berries. I baked this cake with frozen blackberries, blackcurrants and raspberries. You can use any berries that are available. Such pastries are a real feast of tastes. Let's cook!

Ingredients

To prepare charlotte with frozen berries you will need:
sugar - 1 glass;

eggs - 5 pcs.;
flour - 1 cup;
baking powder - 1 tsp;

any frozen berries (I took frozen raspberries, blackberries and blackcurrants) - 1 cup;
powdered sugar for sprinkling.
Glass with a capacity of 250 ml.

Cooking steps

Combine sugar and eggs in a bowl, beat them with a mixer for 4 minutes.

As a result of whipping, the sugar-egg mass will increase in volume several times, and the sugar crystals will completely dissolve.

Then pour the sifted flour into the sugar-egg mass along with the baking powder.

Beat the dough with a mixer until smooth for 1-2 minutes (or mix with a spoon).

The dough will turn out tender, similar to sour cream of medium density, it will flow down from the spoon quite smoothly (as in the photo).

Add frozen berries to the dough (you do not need to defrost the berries).

Stir the dough with a spoon.

Line a baking dish (I bake charlotte in a thick-walled cast-iron pan with a diameter of 26 cm) with parchment paper (or grease with butter). Pour the dough into a baking dish and send it to a preheated oven.

Completely cooled cake, if desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Charlotte cooked with frozen berries turns out tender, moderately sweet and very tasty, serve it with coffee or tea.

Stage 1

Beat the eggs with sugar with a whisk or a mixer, as you like.

2. Stage

Add a glass of sour cream, vinegar-slaked soda to the eggs, beat a little and add flour. Stir until smooth.

3. Stage

Peel the apples, remove the core and cut into slices not too thin and not thick.

4. Stage

Cover the baking dish with parchment or grease with butter, if you have a silicone mold, you can not grease at all. Pour half of the batter into the pan and spread evenly sliced ​​apples.

5. Stage

Put black and red currants on top of the apples, if you have frozen berries, then you do not need to defrost them first, add them right away from the freezer. Fill everything with the remaining dough.

6. Stage

Bake the charlotte at 180 degrees in a preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes.

7. Stage

Cool the finished cake a little, pull it out of the mold, you can sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Bon appetit!!!

Charlotte with apples and berries turns out to be very tasty, tender, airy and with sourness that black and red currants give. Such a pie can be prepared not only for family frequenting, but also for tea drinking with guests. For flavor, you can also add vanilla sugar or cinnamon. If you take apples of fairly sweet varieties, then you may need less sugar, it is better after you mix all the ingredients for the dough, try it to your liking, but remember that the berries can give quite a lot of sour taste, so take them very ripe and as sweet as possible.

Ingredients

  • wheat flour - 2 cups (faceted);
  • sugar - 2/3 cup;
  • salt - a pinch;
  • chicken eggs - 2 pcs.;
  • kefir (I have 1% Vkusnoteevo) - 1 cup;
  • soda slaked with vinegar - 1 tsp;
  • creamy margarine (melted) - 4 tablespoons;
  • frozen cherries - about 100 g.

Cooking time: approximately 40-50 minutes, of which 20-30 minutes are the direct baking of the charlotte.

Yield: 8 small servings.

What could be easier to prepare than a berry charlotte, especially if you have such a wonderful kitchen helper as a slow cooker with a baking mode? Fragrant pastries will delight you in just a couple of tens of minutes, and you do not need to constantly watch her, as is usually the case if you bake in the oven. As a filling, you can use the whole variety of berries and their combinations (for which there is enough imagination). Even if you decide to cook charlotte with berries in a slow cooker out of season, you can easily buy any berry in almost any store. We use the most common and, it seems to me, the most optimal - cherry.

It should be noted that we have a pressure cooker, so it cooks food faster than a regular slow cooker, but it needs time to build up and release pressure. So I present...

Recipe for charlotte with frozen berries in a slow cooker (step by step with a photo)

To begin with, frozen cherries for our berry charlotte need to be thawed.

Beat eggs with sugar until firm foam.

Add kefir to the egg mixture and beat everything well again.

Add flour and stir the mixture well. Pour in melted margarine (3 tablespoons). Put out the soda with vinegar, add to the dough and beat everything well with a blender or whisk.

Grease the bowl of the multicooker with the help of a culinary brush with the remaining melted margarine so that the charlotte does not burn.

Pour half of the dough into the bowl. Arrange the defrosted cherries on top along with the juice.

Pour the remaining batter on top. You will get such interesting cherry stains that will color the dough during the baking process.

Close the slow cooker and cook charlotte with frozen berries in the "Baking" mode, setting the time to 20 minutes.

After the specified time, you should wait until the multicooker releases pressure by itself (10-15 minutes) and only then open the pressure release valve and the multicooker lid. Take out the warm charlotte and decorate it with powdered sugar.

The recipe for such a charlotte with frozen berries is simple, neither time-consuming nor financially expensive. You can cook this pastry at least every day! Bon appetit!