Szarlotka - Apple Cake
The Boston Globe - THE CONFIDENT COOK
Recipe: This Polish Jewish pie, just apples and batter, is really a cake, and perfect for Rosh Hashanah
By Sheryl Julian Globe Correspondent, Updated September 16, 2025, 12:24 p.m.
Makes one deep 9-inch cake/pie
"There is almost no Polish family without a szarlotka recipe," writes Laurel Kratochvila in "Dobre Dobre: Baking from Poland and Beyond." She offers two in her new book, including this one, which she calls pie but it bakes into a tall cake. Her family, she writes, always made it in a pie plate. "This is more cake than pie," she writes, "made in a pie pan or a springform pan spread with thick batter that leaks between the apples." Kratochvila, who went to Tufts, was raised in Sharon, and moved to Prague in 2008 when she was 23. Many of the baked goods she saw there were similar to the Jewish cakes and pastries she grew up on. She has a boulangerie diploma from the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and now owns Fine Bagels, a bakery in Berlin that offers Jewish American baked goods. Her first book, "New European Baking," was nominated for a James Beard award. The name of her recent volume comes from an expression in Poland. "There is no one way to look at Polish baking and no one way to define it." she writes. "Though if you had to, I think the affectionate compliment towards good Polish baking (and pickles) from which this book gets its name will do it: Dobre, dobre, nie za slodkie. Good, good, not too sweet." Kratochvila will be at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge on Oct. 23 (no charge, no ticket), talking about her book with Maura Kilpatrick, pastry chef and co-owner of Sofra Bakery.
Adapted from "Dobre Dobre"
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/16/lifestyle/szarlotka-polish-jewish...
Recipe: This Polish Jewish pie, just apples and batter, is really a cake, and perfect for Rosh Hashanah
By Sheryl Julian Globe Correspondent, Updated September 16, 2025, 12:24 p.m.
Makes one deep 9-inch cake/pie
"There is almost no Polish family without a szarlotka recipe," writes Laurel Kratochvila in "Dobre Dobre: Baking from Poland and Beyond." She offers two in her new book, including this one, which she calls pie but it bakes into a tall cake. Her family, she writes, always made it in a pie plate. "This is more cake than pie," she writes, "made in a pie pan or a springform pan spread with thick batter that leaks between the apples." Kratochvila, who went to Tufts, was raised in Sharon, and moved to Prague in 2008 when she was 23. Many of the baked goods she saw there were similar to the Jewish cakes and pastries she grew up on. She has a boulangerie diploma from the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and now owns Fine Bagels, a bakery in Berlin that offers Jewish American baked goods. Her first book, "New European Baking," was nominated for a James Beard award. The name of her recent volume comes from an expression in Poland. "There is no one way to look at Polish baking and no one way to define it." she writes. "Though if you had to, I think the affectionate compliment towards good Polish baking (and pickles) from which this book gets its name will do it: Dobre, dobre, nie za slodkie. Good, good, not too sweet." Kratochvila will be at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge on Oct. 23 (no charge, no ticket), talking about her book with Maura Kilpatrick, pastry chef and co-owner of Sofra Bakery.
Butter (for the pan)
Extra sugar (for sprinkling)
6 medium tart, firm apples (Cortland, Granny Smith, Braeburn)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2¼ cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups flour
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Set the oven at 400 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper cut to fit it. Generously butter the paper and the sides of the pan up to the top. Sprinkle the pan with sugar, tapping out the excess.
- Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1 1/2- to 2-inch chunks. Gently pile them into the pan; don’t pack them in tightly.
- In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or the whisk), beat the 3 tablespoons butter and 2 cups of the sugar on medium speed until grainy and well mixed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Turn the speed to medium-high. Beat for 5 minutes, or until the batter turns a pale yellow color.
- Turn the speed to low. Beat in the vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix just until it is incorporated. With a rubber spatula, dig into the bowl to make sure the bottom of the batter is mixed with flour.
- Pour the batter over the apples, covering the top entirely. Use a spatula to smooth the batter at the edges of the pan. The batter will sink among the apples as it bakes.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the mixture.
- Transfer to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the top is a rich golden color and a skewer inserted into the middle of the pie comes out clean or a little wet from apples. If the top is too dark during baking, cover the pan loosely with foil. (Total baking time is 60 to 65 minutes.)
- Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Slide a knife around the edge of the cake. Unlatch the spring, lift it off, and transfer the cake to a platter, discarding the parchment.
- Serve at room temperature or store in the fridge, covered, for up to 5 days. Serve cold or reheat in a low oven.
Adapted from "Dobre Dobre"
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/16/lifestyle/szarlotka-polish-jewish...