Polish Housewife

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Szarlotka (Polish Apple Pie)

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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! 🙂

Szarlotka (Polish Apple Pie) on cake plate with Granny Smith apples in background

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, Polish apple pie on handmade cake plate with granny smith apples in the background

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.

Love Polish food? Check out my Cookbook!

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

(Amazon pays me a few cents for purchases via these links)

 

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Szarlotka (Polish Apple Pie)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 10 reviews
  • Prep Time: 50 mins
  • Cook Time: 50 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins
  • Yield: 8 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A quick and easy version of Poland’s apple pie

Ingredients

Scale
  • 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

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
  2. Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder
  3. Cut in the butter (with a pastry blender, two knives, or rub into flour with fingers) until it resembles coarse meal
  4. Work in egg and egg yolk, the dough will be crumbly, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  5. Reserve 1/3 of the crust, pat the remaining 2/3 into a 9 inch springform pan, covering the bottom and the sides
  6. Toss the sliced apples in the cinnamon, and add to the pan, piling them up
  7. Crumble the remaining 1/3 crust and sprinkle over the apples
  8. Bake for about 50 minutes, until crust is lightly brown and the apples are tender, if it seems to be getting brown before the apples are tender, loosely tent with aluminum foil

Notes

You could add some ground almonds on top of the crust before the apples or mix in 1/2 of raisins or dried cranberries with the apples.

Variation – recipe #2 with meringue:

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Szarlotka z Bezą (Polish Apple Pie with Meringue)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 60 min
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 min
  • Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 9-inch pastry 1x
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A lightly sweet Polish apple pie topped with a light cloud of meringue

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups flour (250 g)
  • 1 cup sugar (200 g)
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • 9 tablespoons butter (125 g)
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2¼ pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, & sliced (1 Kg)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 eggs whites
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
  2. Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder
  3. Cut in the butter (with a pastry blender, two knives, or rub into flour with fingers) until it resembles coarse meal
  4. Work in egg yolks, the dough will be crumbly, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  5. Reserve ⅓ of the crust, pat the remaining ⅔ into a 9 inch springform pan, covering the bottom and the sides
  6. Toss the sliced apples in the cinnamon, and add to the pan, piling them up
  7. Cover and seal the top of the pan with aluminum foil
  8. Bake for about 50 – 60 minutes, until crust is lightly brown and the apples are tender
  9. Remove from oven, remove foil
  10. Beat egg whites until you have soft peaks
  11. Continue beating and gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, beat until you have stiff, glossy peaks
  12. Spread meringue over szarlotka, crumble the remaing crust and sprinkle over the meringue
  13. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes
  14. Cool

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie Kenkel

    Oh man, do I love apple recipes and so does my family. This looks like a winner and I can’t wait for it to cool off a bit so I can do some baking because this is #1 in the queue! Thanks for posting Lois!

    Reply

      • Kirsty

        I honestly don’t know what recipe everyone here was following but I followed it exactly and ended up with a huge bowl of sliced apple that wasn’t used (wouldn’t fit in the pan!) and not enough batter to cover the top (and barely the bottom!)
        I didn’t have enough ingredients to do another batch of batter so it looks a slightly different colour. In the oven now but not looking forward to it. Just annoyed I spent 40 mins coring and peeling apples that I didn’t use – not to mention the cost

        Reply

        • Zosia

          My first guess is the first you tried to make this as a normal pie and it’s not. The top and bottom crusts are separated by the apples and the crust does not come up the sides.

          In trying to recover my grandmother’s and mother’s recipes I discovered pans for deserts usually were not described. I just know my maternal side used a high round pan and the paternal side a square pan with more of a cake than pie dough. On a personal note, I never use granny smith apples but MacIntosh and thinly slice the apples mixing them with cinnamon, nutmeg, a little flour and sugar,

          Reply

  2. Claire Lenehan

    I made this recipe for my boyfriend for his birthday (he is part Polish) and I was really nervous because we are gluten and dairy free (allergies) and I thought there was no way if I substituted them out would this recipe taste as good as his Babcia’s, but I was wrong! He was so happy and this recipe still tastes totally delicious! So now we can have a Polish dessert and its become one of our favourites. Thanks so much for posting this, its so simple that substitution was really effective.



    Reply

  3. Diane L. Hubacz

    My Polish great-grandfather used to make a recipe similar to this, but he grated apples. It melted in your mouth. Delish!

    Reply

  6. Alison

    Hi I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow, the person I’m making it for is Gluten and Wheat intolerant, but I’m sure it’ll be wonderful, I first saw it being made on a TV programme called Dinner Date and the guy who was cooking was Polish, can’t wait!

    Reply

  7. Elizabeth Beaudoin

    I just tried this recipe as I needed a dessert that would transport well. It was lovely and so easy. The fact that it was made in a spring form pan allowed for nice slices. I did add 2 tablespoons of sour cream as I was in a hurry and did not have time for the dough to be refrigerated. I used Gala apples but would will try Golden Delicious next time. Thank you.



    Reply

  9. Eric

    One question: when you say one kilogram of apples, peeled, cored, and sliced, is that one kilogram BEFORE you peel and core them, or AFTER they’re peeled and cored? That could make a big difference!

    Reply

    • polishhousewife

      Hi Eric,

      Thanks for asking. Yes, my apples were a kilo before peeling, coring, and slicing, but as far as the apples go, this recipe would be very forgiving if you were a little over or under! Happy baking!

      Reply

  10. Amissy

    I made this a few days ago.( Both my parents are Polish as were their parents. I never knew of this version of an apple pie. ) It was excellent and easy. It will replace my apple pie this year for Thanksgiving. Thanks for posting the recipe!



    Reply

  11. Ann_Catherine

    Made this for my boyfriend’s family! They loved it! There wasn’t enough to go around. Will be making this for Thanksgiving luncheon at work!



    Reply

  12. Paul Jankowski

    I baked a Szarlotka using your recipe this past Thanksgiving and it was fabulous!… Everyone absolutely loved it with coffee!… I will definitely make it again and again… The only thing I did differently was to add about another 50% to the crust recipe because the original amount wast enough for my 9″ spring pan…

    Reply

  13. Aileen

    This was so easy, and so delicious! I made it for my boyfriend, who loves all things apple and all things Polish. He loved it, but what’s more is that I loved it- and I generally don’t like apple pie or pastry. Such a wonderful recipe that I’ll be sure to use again!



    Reply

  14. Irene

    Made this for the first time for my family . Everyone loves it, will be making this again.
    And yes, it reminded me of my Mum’s baking, and very easy to make. Thank you for this delicious dessert.

    Reply

  15. Mary Ann

    I would like to make this for my mother who is 96 years old and lives with us. She loves all things apple! Before I get started on this, was wondering if the pan needs to be greased and floured? Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply

  16. Wes

    Hi. My Mum used to make a big savoury mince ball covered with a gnocchi or dumpling outer and served with burnt butter. Does anyone have that sort of recipe??

    Reply

  17. Sophie

    Just love this recipe! Have made it several times with wonderful results. This time I’m going to double it and make a 9×13 to cut into squares. I’m also waiting for your cherry cordial to be ready. I’ve got one more month to go. Can’t wait!



    Reply

  18. Joanne Wujkowski

    I’m 70 years old – this looks like an easier receipe for me, rather than a home-made crust pie. I’m going to give it out at Thanksgiving to friends and famly – use individual loaf pans that have been greased and floured. Bet it will turn out delicious. I may grate some of the apples and slice the some thinly. I’ll let you know how it all turns out. I will double the crust receipe since I’m making 6 individual loaf pans and will divide the crust between all 6 loafs.

    Reply

  20. Michelle

    My boyfriend is Polish and I made this for him as a surprise. He loved it said it reminded him of his mums cooking when he was a child. Brought a little bit of home to someone who is very far from home. My entire Irish family also loved it so much.Thank you so much for sharing this,cant wait to try your other recipes






    Reply

  21. Ann Kielbasa

    I love this recipe! Plain and simple. I have made this recipe numerous times for friends and family, each time everyone raves about it (usually there’s not enough left for me). I have gone ahead and made some slight changes to my version but overall the same recipe. Can’t get enough of this recipe!



    Reply

  22. Eleanor B. Policastro

    I can’t rate the recipe as I haven’t made it yet. Soon!

    My favorite gluten free flours are Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 for cookies,cakes, quick breads, and pie crusts and Pamela’s Pizza Dough Mix to make anything that calls for yeast. It makes glorious sticky buns. You don’t use the pizza dough recipe, you use the flour and your own gluten free recipe. I find that cakes made with oil are much more moist than those made with butter with baking gluten free cakes. Also they stay fresh longer.

    Reply

  23. Ela

    Hi, I am very eager to try this recipe out! We recently went apple picking and have a LOT of apples. Do you know if the filling freezes well? I’m hoping to try the recipe this weekend. If successful, going to try to bring to our family’s Thanksgiving(all Polaks!!). Afraid the apples won’t last until then. Thank you!

    Reply

    • polishhousewife

      Hi Ela,

      I haven’t had this dessert around long enough to freeze it, but I think it would be fine to pop it in the freezer. Be sure that it’s completely cool before you wrap in foil or plastic wrap and freeze. To thaw, leave the wrapping on and let it sit at room temp for 5 – 6 hours. Then pop it in a 300 F oven for about 30 minutes. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

      Reply

    • Eleanor B. Policastro

      The way to keep apples is to put them in a cool place where the temperature does not fluctuate. A second refrigerator is perfect.

      Reply

  24. Karen Zaorski

    This Polish apple pie may be the perfect dessert dish to bring to my daughter-in-laws family Thanksgiving get together. I’m excited about trying it and like that I can make it the day before traveling. Do you suggest that I remove it after cooling or leave it in the spring-form pan for safe traveling? Lois, thanks for sharing this Szarlotka recipe.

    Reply

    • polishhousewife

      Hi Karen,

      I think I would run a knife around the inside of the pan after it’s cooled for 10-30 minutes, but I would leave the springform sides on while traveling. It will offer so much protection.

      Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

      Reply

        • Karen Zaorski

          The Szarlotka that I made for Thanksgiving last year was a huge hit!! I am about to do it again! Not only did the Szarlotka look beautiful but it was sooo delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever received such rave reviews for anything I’ve ever made. I liked that this recipe wasn’t overly sweet. The only change I made to your recipe was to add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the apple mixture ONLY because I knew there were “sweet toothed” guests coming to the dinner. I also like that I was able to travel with this dessert in the pan to protect it from any unforeseen malady!! The Szarlotka released very easily from the spring-form pan after carefully running a knife around the edge of the pan as you suggested to me. I recently enjoyed Szarlotka at a Polish restaurant which was also delicious…but not as delicious as this recipe. 😉

          Reply

  25. Kathy Sands

    Made the szarlotka yesterday. It came out great,popped right out of the springform pan. Taking it to friends for thanksgiving. Thanks for a great,easy recipe.

    Reply

    • Karen Zaorski

      Made this Szarlotka today for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dessert. It came out of the greased pan so easily. Hopefully, it tastes as good as it looks. I did add some sour cream to the dough and also added 1/4 cup of sugar to the apples and cinnamon. I baked it for 60 mins and it was lightly browned and looks picture perfect.

      Reply

  27. Janice

    I found your recipe and was excited to make it. I made this and it was a disaster. I had way too much dough and apples for a 9 inch pie pan. Having never made it i tried to incorporate all of the ingredients into the pan and i think that was my mistake. I didn’t use the weight measurements and perhaps that was the issue? 6 cups of flour seems to be a lot? Not sure what i did wrong but i had to throw it out and that was very disappointing. 🙁

    Reply

  28. Lisa King

    I made this for my priest, who is from Poland (in US 3 yrs). I followed the recipe.exactly. My priest said it was one the best Szarlotka’s he has ever eaten. What a win!!!

    Reply

  29. Junie

    I wondered if this could be made in a 9 inch non stick cake pan or a quiche dish well greased? I do not have a spring form pan
    Junie

    Reply

  30. Matt

    We’ve been given plenty of granny apples.
    So I’m gonna to save this recipe and try it this weekend for my Polish wife!
    It looks easy to do which is perfect for us 🙂

    Reply

  31. Heather MacLeish

    This cake is fabulous. I did a half recipe, and made the dough in the food processor, so easy. I didn’t understand the part about the ground almonds, so I threw in some sliced almonds with the flour (replaced a few tablespoons) and put more sliced almonds on top. Also grated the apples instead of sliced (per other Szarlotka recipes), as I was looking for a more jammy texture. Finally, I made this in a loaf pan lined with parchment. Worked great in the absence of a springform. Perfect coffee cake!

    Reply

  32. Erin S.

    This is now the go-to pie recipe in our house! I’m German and my husband is Polish, and we love eating traditionally. I’ve made this using apples, cherries, peaches, peaches and mangos, and even pineapples. It’s come out amazing every time. I would love to try it with blueberries, raspberries, and pears. The sky is the limit with this base!

    Reply

  33. Krysia

    Yes, eating apple cake at family gatherings cold. But its really nice heated up with cream or custard.
    And it does freeze well.

    Reply

  35. Anni C

    So many comments for a great recipe, but I needed to add mine. I had been looking at many recipes for Szarlotka and combined this with one other. It was so beautiful when finished! I didn’t leave time for meringue but will try that next time. My springform is large and I wanted to share this with a friend who is unable to cook lately, so I made 1 1/2 recipes of the dough. It came together so easily. I made a 1/2-batch first but used a whole egg. I also sprinkled in a little spice mix (cinnamon, clove, ginger, freshly ground cardamom, and allspice). I used only 1/8-1/4 tsp but will use a little more cardamom next time. I formed that into a flattened ball, wrapped it in plastic wrap and froze it and then made the dough for the base exactly as described here but with 2 whole eggs, room temp and slightly beaten before incorporating into the pastry mix. My dough wasn’t crumbly. It had the consistency of cookie dough. For the filling, I mixed the chopped apples with fresh lemon as I chopped them, maybe a Tb total, and then with 1/4 C sugar to sit while I prepared dough. I also baked the bottom crust for about 15 minutes just to set it and then let it cool about 15 minutes while I cleaned up and before adding the raw chopped apples with just the lemon juice and a little sugar. By then, my 1/2-batch of dough was frozen and I grated it with a box grater over the apples before baking for 45 minutes. I wanted the gorgeous crust a little more browned on top, so I very carefully watched it under the broiler for a few minutes before removing it. Once cooled, it sliced beautifully. The apples were still a bit firm, so they held their shape, and only slightly sweet, not syrupy and soft like American apple pie. Thank you so much for the inspiration! This is at the top of my favorite dessert recipes!

    Reply

  36. Agata

    I love this recipe!
    I modify using organic coconut il instead of butter and add about 1 tsp cinnamon to the dough as well as 1 tsp cinnamon to the apples. I don’t bother putting the dough in the fridge either.
    Tastes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Not sweet, exactly like the szarlotka back home.
    Thank you for sharing

    Reply

  37. Lou Murray

    I don’t EVER review recipes but as I’m making this for like the 30th time this is a staple in my house. I add whatever I have raisins almonds pecans walnuts cranberries. I did this once with plums, stunning!
    Everyone needs this cake in their life

    Reply

  38. Irene

    Fabulous cake. I did not refrigerate the dough and found it quite easy to work with.
    I grated the apples and added some fresh cranberries. Delicious. A real keeper.
    Thanks Lois

    Reply

  39. Den M.

    Hello again, I have asked several questions on different Polish dessert posts. I am going to a dinner party Sunday for 6, the hosts too have immigrated here and are hosting an authentic Polish dinner. The host doesn’t like to bake so I volunteered and am concerned have bit off more than I can chew. My baking experience is Greek and Italian, my heritage! I had my eye on a few desserts and have posted some questions. This one seems pretty doable, you even suggested the apple type although right now in Florida I might be able to get honeycrisp or gala but maybe not granny. My question is the thickness to cut the slices. Should the inside of this pie look like american pie, ie. the slices stay intact more or less or should they dissolve more like jammy ? The thickness cut and your comments should help me get to where it needs to be. I also sent a ques on your apple cake and chocolate cream cake recipes I am open to any suggestion you have that would make a welcome and proper dessert to a Polish dinner party but is not error prone! Thank you for your help and wonderfully inspiring blog.

    Reply

  40. Jay-Lou

    I made this today (meringue version) it is amazing. We could have easily finished off the pie in one sitting!! We had some apples from my grandad’s tree, he was Polish, and decided to make this to honour him. Such a good recipe, simple to make and amounts are perfect for the tin size. I will be making this again…soon I imagine, I don’t think the current one will last too long 🙂
    Thank you for sharing the recipe.

    Reply

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