Szarlotka Recipe (Polish Apple Pie)

Szarlotka Recipe (Polish Apple Pie)

Szarlotka (Polish apple pie) features a cinnamon-spiced apple filling in the middle of a buttery sweet pastry. The pastry is what truly makes this autumnal pie unique; it’s a cross between shortcrust and pound cake.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Polish

Keyword Polish Apple Pie, Szarlotka, Szarlotka Recipe

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1

Other Time: 1

Servings servings

Calories 264kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Equipment

10.5 by 7.5-inch baking dish

Ingredients

Crust (Top and Bottom):

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter chilled and diced small
1 large egg chilled
1/2 cup sour cream chilled (or plain Greek yogurt)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Apple Filling:

2.2 pounds Honeycrisp apples or Braeburn, Pink Lady, or Winesap, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 to 8 cups chopped)
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Other:

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter to grease the pan
2 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting the top

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Crust:

Make the dough. Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse a couple times to combine. Add the butter and pulse to mostly incorporate it, but leave some larger pieces of butter the size of peas. Pulse in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla until the mixture forms a shaggy dough. You want the dough wet enough that it sticks together when you squeeze it, but still shaggy/crumbly looking.
Divide the dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Wrap half of the dough with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour. Grease a 10.5 by 7.5-inch baking dish with butter. Press the other half of the dough into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the baking dish. Poke the bottom a few times with a fork. Chill this in the fridge while you make the apple filling.

For the Apple Filling:

Stew the apples. Add the chopped apples, sugar, and salt to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook (uncovered) until the apples start to soften a bit but still hold their shape, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the spices. Remove from the heat and stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
Cool. Cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven. While the filling cools, preheat the oven to 350F.

To Assemble and Bake:

Add the filling. Spoon the cooled apple mixture onto the dough in the baking dish, spreading it out evenly.
Add the topping. Coarsely grate the frozen dough ball on a box grater the way you’d grate cheese. Sprinkle this evenly across the top of the apple mixture.
Bake. Bake until the pie is golden, about 1 hour, to 1 hour 15 minutes. (Note that baking time will vary depending on whether you use a glass, metal, or ceramic baking dish.)

To Serve:

Cool, and then sprinkle the powdered sugar on top. Serve.

Notes

Storage and Freezing: Once it's cooled to room temperature, you can wrap szarlotka well and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. After freezing when you want to serve this, thaw it overnight and reheat it in a 350F oven until warm, about 10 minutes. (This helps re-crisp the pastry, which has the tendency to become waterlogged and mushy after freezing and thawing.)
Making the Dough by Hand: You don't have to make the dough in a food processor! It's also easy to make by hand. To do so, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the chilled cubed butter and work it into the dough with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until it's mostly incorporated but some pieces of butter the size of small peas remain. Add the egg, sour cream, and vanilla, and work the mixture together with your fingers until it forms a shaggy dough. To see step-by-step photos of how to make dough by hand, check out my individual steak and ale pie recipe.
The Filling: I've made versions of this pie where the apple filling was soft with a texture similar to chunky applesauce. It's delicious, but I prefer filling where the apples hold their shape. However, if you prefer a mushier apple pie filling, you can use a potato masher to mash the apples while they're stewing, and cook them a bit longer until they reach your desired consistency.
Sweetness Level: Taste your apple filling and adjust the sweetness if desired. Add sugar to make it sweeter, and lemon juice if it's too sweet. (But don't compare it with regular American pie! Remember that in general, this dessert is much less sweet.)
The Pastry: If you want a shorter, more crisp pastry crust, you can omit the egg and sour cream, and instead use 3/4 cup cold water. For a more cake-y pastry, add 1 teaspoon baking powder along with the flour, reduce the sour cream to 1/4 cup, and increase the eggs to 2.

Nutrition