Who was Charlotte?

With a kilo of small apricots bought from the visiting fruit and veg man it was time to turn to an old English recipe book.

This gave the recipe for Apricot Charlotte and we got to work. But we wonder who was Charlotte? If anyone knows the answer, let us know. Sharon suggested the dish could be something to do with Queen Sophia Charlotte, 1744-1818, who married George III and who was the mother of George IV. You will need:

A kilo or so of fresh apricots
Six ounces of sugar
Quarter of a pound of breadcrumbs
Two ounces of butter.

Weigh the bread and whiz it around, crusts and all, in the food processor until you have lots of breadcrumbs. Chop the apricots after removing the stones. Put them in a pan with four ounces of the sugar and a little water. Grease a pie dish. Then mix the remaining two ounces of sugar with the breadcrumbs. Put a layer of breadcrumbs on the bottom of the tin, then a layer of apricots, and keep on layering finishing with breadcrumbs on top. Pour over any remaining liquid from the apricots. Dot the top with little knobs of butter and bake for about 50 minutes in a moderate oven. The original recipe listed dried apricots which had been soaked overnight.

We made the Charlotte and very tasty it was. We tried it both hot and cold and preferred it cold, with a bit of cream.

The great Victorian Cook, Mrs Beeton, said that apricots were indigenous to Armenia but could now be found in almost every climate. “A good apricot, when perfectly ripe, is an excellent fruit. It has been somewhat condemned for its laxative qualities, but this has possibly arisen from the fruit having been eaten unripe, or in too great excess. Delicate persons should not eat the apricot uncooked, without a liberal allowance of powdered sugar.”

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©Phillip Bruce 1990.