Charlotte

charlotte a pudding made in a mould lined with sponge fingers or bread slices. There are two principal kinds: baked and unbaked.

The best-known baked charlotte is apple charlotte. The mould is lined with buttered bread, sometimes previously fried; filled with stewed apples; topped with more bread or breadcrumbs; baked until the crust is brown above and below; and turned out. It seems clear that this charlotte began life in Britain. The OED gives the earliest relevant appearance of ‘charlotte’ in print as 1796, and at least one recipe for apple charlotte was published within ten years or so. The name may have been bestowed in honour of Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), wife of George III, said to be a patron of apple growers.