Polish style szarlotka (apple pie)

I used to think I’m not someone who easily gets provoked. However after this article in NY Times Dining made me cook I’m not that sure any more. The result was that I discovered a delicious apple pie which is very different from whatever I tried before. Given that I’m a complete apple pie freak and try different apple pastry wherever I find it, I feel impressed and simply happy about it.


“Tarte Tatin is the second-best apple pie in the world…” started the The Wonders of Tarte Tatin article. Don’t remember how I found it, but the phrase got me and I had to keep reading. I can just give my respect to Edward Schneider for such a great opening. “…After Jackie’s Polish-style szarlotka” it continued, following up with a detailed description of the Tarte Tatin and its wonders. I skipped this part and went to search the web for the Polish pie.

I don’t know exactly which recipe the author meant, but one of the Polish apple pies I found really got my attention. The idea is that very sweet and reach short pastry shell holds the sour apple filling. The apples get precooked, so they cook down and form a thick, dense and intense layer. The top gets again covered by pastry array, which gets crispy delicious while it bakes.

Last weekend my parents got back from Florence. That was a rare occasion they didn’t have any willingness to cook themselves as they were tired. So I offered to bake an apple pie to welcome them back and they agreed.

I must say it turned out quite labor intense. Nothing complicated, but you have to peel, core and chop some 1.5 kg of apples and knead a considerable amount of dough. I got lucky with my mom ready to deal with the apples, so we installed ourselves in the kitchen and spent some 2 hours there chatting (we can always do as much chatting as needed, just give us a chance).

The pie came out completely worth the effort. Everybody in the house seemed to like it. Despite its impressive size, three quarters were gone immediately. I’m not going to say whether it is better than Tarte Tatin though. To me, the more different great apple pies I have in my collection, the better. Each will find its ideal occasion to fit in.

Polish style szarlotka (apple pie) (recipe adapted from Szarlotka (Polish Apple Pie) by Coffee and Vanilla)

serves 10

For the short pastry:
310 g plain all purpose flour
200 g butter
120 g light brown sugar
1/2 tea spoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 tbs sour cream

For the filling:
1.5 kg baking apples, peeled and cored, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs sugar
1 tea spoon vanilla

For the pastry, combine the flour and chopped chilled butter. Mix together to get to the texture of bread crumbs. It's easier to use food processor, but you can also do it with your hands. Mix in the sugar and salt. Add the egg yolks and sour cream. Mix to get even pastry that holds together. Cover and chill in the fridge for an hour.

Mix the chopped apples with lemon juice to prevent them from getting brown. Set a large frying pan over high heat, add in the apples (no oil needed) and cook stirring for around 10 minutes. The apples should soften and most of the liquid should evaporate. Remove from heat and let cool.

Butter a 22 cm round cake pan slightly. Take 2/3 of the pastry out of the fridge and roll it into a circle. Cover the bottom and sides of the pan (the border should be around 3 cm tall). Fork the pastry shell and prebake it for 12 minutes in 180C oven. Take out and let cool a bit.

Roll the remaining pastry 3-4 mm thick and cut it into stripes 1 cm wide (it seems that pizza knife is the best instrument for that, but surely you can use an ordinary knife).

Fill the pastry shell with apples. Spread them evenly and slightly press down, to form a dense layer. Arrange the pastry stripes on top of the apples in parallel to each other, leaving almost no space in between.

Bake the pie for 25-30 min, till the top gets golden. Take out of the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Then it easily cuts into nice pretty pieces.

It was perfect just on its own and we didn't get to complementing it with anything. However I can imagine, that if you have a bit more patience, it will be great with vanilla sauce or ice-cream.

Related posts and pages:

Picture perfect Tarte Tatin
Tarte aux poires normande (French pear tart)
Just apple and strawberry crumble
The perfect vanilla sauce

Moscow cafes and bakeries guide

Kiev food: a personal guide