Szarlotka | Baking with Dorie

Szalotka is Polish dessert that I’ve never heard of. Dorie Greenspan, in her cookbook Baking with Dorie, speaks fondly about the Polish szarlotka which reminds her of a beloved dessert her grandmother used to make. With that, it’s hard not to take a serious look at the cake. Well, it’s not quite a cake, a pie, a torte nor a crumble. This is a hard-to-describe but substantial cake. It takes three pounds of apples, peeled and cored. In the fall, I am all for baking a big cake with a varieties of apples in season.

Baking a big cake requires a big commitment. I mean, you have to peel five to six apples, depending on the size. I have a special (somewhat nerdy) way to peel a cored apple from bottom to top in a spiral string — in one go and in a continuous ribbon with a knife. And it does not take me long to peel; I’m good at it. Maybe that’s why I like working with apples.

Making the apple filling is a breeze: mix the apples (cut into 1/2-inch pieces) with brown sugar, a little bit of flour, golden raisins and a splash of lemon juice. (I used cranberries and candied ginger instead of raisins.)

The bigger commitment is to make the crust. Using a store-bought pie dough is not an option for the szarlotka. In short: no shortcut.

You have to go all in including making the crust since it’s one of the key features of szarlotka. It’s different from other dough crust I’ve made before. It’s softer, more delicate, yet massive compared to the classic dough. In fact, the dough weighs about 700 grams. I weigh the dough, because I want to divide it precisely. One third of dough, which goes into the freezer until you’re ready to bake, turns into a crumble-like topping. The rest of the dough is rolled out into a 14-inch round which lines the 9-inch springform pan. Against the bottom and up the sides.

It’s a new technique to freeze the dough until it’s solid enough to be grated over the apple filling. I have fun using a box grater over the large holes with a cut-resistant glove to get the job done. More like grating frozen butter but easier. It begs the question: is it worth all that effort and commitment?

The verdict: the crust (or crumble) is too soft and the apples are not soft enough for my taste. I prefer the interior to be like that of an apple pie. This is not an apple pie, nor a cake!