- 30g/1oz butter
- 225g/8oz Bramley apples (or similar cooking apples), peeled, sliced
- 225g/8oz Cox's, Pippins or any other English eating apple, peeled, sliced
- 30g/1oz caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out
- 1 free-range egg yolk
- 75g/2¾ oz melted butter for the bread
- 8 slices white bread, crusts removed
- 100g/3½oz butter
- 100g/3½oz soft dark brown sugar
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- clotted cream
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add all of the apples, the sugar and vanilla seeds. Cook until the apples become soft enough to break down into a purée. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Once the apple mixture is cool, add the egg yolk and mix well to combine.
- Butter the bread slices and line a 600ml/1 pint pudding basin with some of the bread slices, overlapping the slices to ensure there are no gaps.
- Spoon in the apple mixture and cover the top with the remaining bread.
- Place a plate on top of the pudding and weigh it down with a can of beans (or similar weight) for one hour.
- Remove the plate and cover the pudding with kitchen foil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for ten more minutes, or until the top is light golden-brown.
- For the sauce, place the butter, sugar and cream into a separate pan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 5-6 minutes, until combined as a smooth sauce.
- To serve, cut out a wedge of apple Charlotte and place onto each plate. Add a generous spoonful of the sauce and a spoonful of clotted cream alongside.