Szarlotka (Polish Apple Pie)

Name: Szarlotka (Polish Apple Pie)
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 2 cups flour (250 g); 1 cup sugar (200 g); 3/4 teaspoon baking powder; 9 tablespoons butter (125 g); 1 egg; 2 egg yolk; 2 1/4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, & sliced (1 Kg); 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

August 17, 2016 by polishhousewife 90 Comments

Szarlotka (Polish apple pie) is a staple found in every cafe and bakery in Poland. Imagine my surprise when I looked back and realized that, although I have eaten a lot of szarlotka in Poland, I’ve never prepared one.

Even more surprising was the fact that none of my many Polish cookbooks had a szarlotka recipe. I put out a plea on PolishHousewife’s Facebook page and asked folks to link me to their favorite recipe. I now have several to try! 🙂

I picked this one because it was 8 PM. I was getting a late start, and it seemed the simplest. Thanks to my friend Barbara for allowing me to share this recipe. I’ll be making the others in the future. What fun I’ll have taste testing!

Szarlotka vs. Apple Pie

Szarlotka is different than American apple pie in both the crust and the filling. It also tends to be less sweet. After looking at all of these szarlotka recipes, I now know that szarlotka differs from szarlotka! Some have raisins and almonds, some have meringue on top, some get a crumble topping.

We liked this dessert even better on the second day. The flavors meld, the texture improves. So that’s my recommendation, make this the day before you intend to serve it. Don’t you love dishes that can be made in advance?

As for Barbara’s filling, it’s only apples. I’ve edited a bit by adding cinnamon, but that’s it, no sugar in the filling. The only sugar is what goes into the crust. It is noticeably less sweet than American apple pie and tastes more like apples.

If you’d rather not deal with rolling out a pie crust, this is the dessert for you. You can just pat it into the pan. It’s rustic and very forgiving.

Szarlotka with Meringue

Why add meringue to szarlotka, you may ask. Well, the meringue adds a bright pop of bright white color to an otherwise beige dessert. It adds a creamy texture and additional interest to an otherwise already delicious dessert.

The recipe calls for egg yolks in the crust, with just a slight modification, we can use an equal number of egg whites in the topping. I sometimes freeze extra egg whites for another use, but it’s nice when you don’t have to.

In the meringue variation (second recipe card below), instead of one egg and two egg yolks in the crust, I use four egg yolks in the crust and four egg whites for the meringue.

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To be clear, this recipe is perfectly fabulous on its own (first version below), but if you want to try a variation or you’re cooking for someone whose favorite szarlotka involves meringue, I’ve got you covered in the second recipe that follows.

If you think this recipe looks like a winner, how about sharing the love and passing it along to your friends? My family loved this szarlotka; I know I’ll make it again soon.

Smacznego!

Lois

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