Polish apple cake - Szarlotka...

Probably one of the most famous cakes in Poland - if not THE MOST famous. But I'll stop you right there, before you'll start saying "this is not the recipe my grandma used etc." Traditions, more than anything, are passed form one family member to the other and szarlotka didn't escape this fate either. 

I'd say that there are as many versions of this cake, as there are families in Poland and all around the world, with Polish roots. I've already made few versions of this cake myself and the below one, is one of my favourite! 

There's almost no work involved in it at all. Besides some simple mixing of ingredients together and grating the apples (which would be the "polish way" of preparing apples for an apple cake) you'll have a fantastic szarlotka in no time at all!

How to make it...

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 115 g vegan butter, soft
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vegan natural yogurt 
- 1 aquafaba egg (3 tablespoon aquafaba)
- pinch of salt
- 5 apples, pealed, cored and grated
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon demerara sugar

Method:

- Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a round 20 cm cake baking tin. 

- Mix together flour, sugar and baking powder. 

- Cut butter into pieces and add to the flour. 

- Using your fingers mix flour and butter together until it resembles small breadcrumbs. 

- Add the aquafaba egg and yogurt and mix well together, until it becomes a soft ball - it will be very soft and quite sticky. 

- Divide the dough in half and put each half into the plastic wrap/bag and pop it into the fridge for an hour.

- In the meantime prepare your apples, grate them (using the biggest size attachment in your kitchen robot or on hand grater). 

- Add cinnamon to grated apples and put aside so you can "deal" with the dough. 

- Take one half of the dough and using your fingers spread it evenly on the bottom of the baking tin.

- Cover generously with apple and follow with the second half of the dough - which you can grate, tear apart with your fingers, and cover the apples completely. 

- Sprinkle the top with demerara sugar. 

- Bake for about 45-50 minutes until golden in colour. 

- Cool for a while in the tin before taking out and cooling completely. 

- Serve sprinkled with icing sugar, side of whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream (vegan of course ;) ).

Smacznego!


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