Charlotte Milanese style "Charlotte alla Milanese"

Lombardy

Cooking time: about 1 hour and 10 minutes Difficulty: Ingredients, amounts for several people: butter: 1 oz apples: 14 oz pine-nuts: 2 oz rum: grated lemon peel: golden raisins (from Sicily): 2 oz dry white wine: sugar: 5 oz stale French bread: 5 oz

Preparation: Soften the sultanas in warm water for no longer than ¼ of an hour. Cut the apples into slices of medium thickness, put them into a casserole dish, add 130 g (4 ½ oz) of sugar, a little grated lemon rind, half a glass of white wine and cover with water. Cook the apples, but not for too long since they should remain intact, then drain and lay out the slices on a napkin. Mix the butter with the remaining sugar and use this to grease a charlotte mould (round, without the central hole). Drain the sultanas and dry them in a thin cloth. Line the bottom and sides of the mould with thin slices of bread, filling the centre with the apples, alternating layers with the sultanas and the pine nuts. Sprinkle a little rum over the top and then cover the apples with more slices of bread spread with the leftover butter. Put the uncovered mould into the hot oven (170° C/325° F/Gas Mark 3) for 30 minutes and then the same time again with the mould covered with aluminium foil. At the end of the cooking time, upturn the charlotte onto a flat serving plate, sprinkle generously with rum, set alight and serve the charlotte flaming.