We served these Apple Charlenes at the 5th annual Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund benefit at Chelsea Market, joining New York City chefs, restaurants, and food makers in celebrating Anne’s legacy and a shared commitment to a more inclusive, sustainable food system.
Developed by our Lead Culinary Fundamentals Instructor, Chef Charlene, this bite-sized spin on the classic Apple Charlotte puts Hot Bread Kitchen’s golden challah rolls to delicious use. Filled with warm, stewed apples and wrapped in buttery, toasted challah, they’re especially delicious served with crème anglaise—or a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
- 6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered, diced into 1” pieces
- ½ cup apricot jam
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 packages of Hot Bread Kitchen Challah Rolls, 1-2 days old
- 1 cup clarified butter
Directions:
- Place apple pieces in a heavy-bottomed pot on low-medium heat, cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally about 5 minutes. Add the jam, sugar, and vanilla. Continue cooking and stirring for 10 minutes until the apple mixture is thickened.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare and grease two 12-cup muffin pans.
- Slice the Challah Roll loaf into ¾” thick slices, perpendicularly. Gently flatten the slices with a rolling pin. They should be thin (if the bread is fresh, it will spring up and not remain thin).
- Select two round cutters the same size of the base of the muffin tin and the top of the muffin pan. Punch out rounds from the sliced bread, 24 pieces of each size. Then, cut remaining long pieces to match the same size of the circumference of the wells of the muffin pans.
- Toast the smaller of the bread rounds on each side in clarified butter in a pan, until lightly browned and golden. Followed by the long pieces and the top pieces.
- Place the smaller pieces on the bottom of the mold. Add the long pieces for the perimeter. Fill the center with 1 tablespoon of apple puree. Top with the larger round of bread.
- Place the muffin pan on a sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the bread is toasty brown. Cool for 15 minutes before gently unmolding. Place a cooling rack on the top of the muffin pan and flip. The Apple Charlenes should easily slide out. If not, allow gravity to work its magic and help it along with a tap.
- Serve Apple Charlenes hot, warm, or at room temperature. Serve inverted with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
