Sharlottka: Russian Apple Pie

Sharlottka is a sweet pie made with apples and walnuts baked in the light dough. Sharlottka has French roots. It was invented in London by a French chef. Of course! My favorite recipe actually comes from Russia where it's the most popular kind of pie. My family make this pie all the time. You can also use peaches instead of apples.

You'll need:

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar (if you're going extra healthy, use just 1/2 cup of sugar!)
3 eggs
5 Red Delicious apples, cut in smaller pieces, with skin
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
vanilla

Here's how:

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat eggs and sugar until the mixture is nice and foamy, about 4 minutes. Combine baking soda and vinegar in a separate bowl. Let the chemical reaction begin! Add the foaming baking soda into the egg/sugar mixture, as well as cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Beat well. Add the apples and mix everything well. The secret of this pie is that it has more apples than batter... which means that you can eat two pieces of pie instead of one :) Bake for about an hour. Serve with whipped cream or just milk.

Sometimes I use whole-wheat flour when I bake. Although it is definitely healthier, remember that the the pies/cakes come out looking and tasting a little bit differently: they are darker in color and also not as fluffy. I like them very much anyway.

I might be a freak, but sometimes I have this pie for breakfast and I don't feel guilty for a second.