Szarlotka takes me straight back to my babcia’s (grandma’s) kitchen. Hers always had a lovely crunchy top and that perfect sweet-sour base. It is the Polish apple cake every babcia seems to have in her repertoire: a buttery, tender shortcrust wrapped around a thick layer of spiced tart apples, with a golden grated crumble on top. It is the cake that fills the whole house with the smell of apples and cinnamon on a cool autumn afternoon, and it is far simpler to make than it looks. If you have only ever had American apple pie, this Polish version is a lovely surprise: less sweet, more apple-forward, and cakey rather than flaky. My guide to Polish food sets out the rest of the Polish baking worth knowing.

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Ingredients Substitutions Equipment Variations Serving FAQ

Slice of Polish szarlotka apple cake with golden crumble topping on a plate

Why You Will Love This Szarlotka

Apple-forward, not too sweet. The filling is all about the fruit, so it never feels sickly.
No fiddly pastry. The dough is pressed in and grated on top - no rolling, no lattice, no soggy bottom if you follow one simple trick.
Better the next day. It firms up and the flavour deepens overnight, so it is perfect to make ahead.
Freezer friendly. It freezes beautifully, so you can always have a slice ready for guests.

What Is Szarlotka?

Szarlotka (sometimes called jabłecznik) is Poland’s best-loved apple cake. Unlike an American apple pie, which has a thin, flaky pastry and a solid lid, szarlotka is built from a sweet, cakey shortcrust called kruche ciasto - closer to shortbread. You press two-thirds of the dough into the tin for the base, pile on a thick layer of cooked spiced apples, then coarsely grate the last third of the dough over the top so it bakes into a craggy golden crumble (kruszonka). The result is soft, buttery and generous with the fruit.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

Tart apples The heart of the cake, and worth getting right, because there is 1.2kg of it in here. What you want is a proper cooking apple rather than an eating one. Cooking apples are sharp and firm-fleshed and hold their shape in the oven; eating apples, which is most of what a supermarket sells, taste lovely raw and go bland and slack once they are cooked. Most countries have their own standard cooking apple, and Poland’s Antonówka and Britain’s Bramley are the same idea, so a Bramley is the honest substitute rather than an approximation. Granny Smith or Braeburn also work.
Butter, flour and egg yolks These make the short, tender kruche ciasto. Keep the butter cold and the dough stays crumbly and light.
Cinnamon The warm spice that makes szarlotka smell like autumn. Add to taste.
Breadcrumbs or semolina A traditional trick - a thin layer under the apples soaks up their juice and keeps the base crisp.
Icing sugar (powdered sugar) A snowy dusting on top is the classic finish, and the easiest way to sweeten a slice to taste.

Ingredient Substitutions

Apples: Antonówka is traditional, but any firm, tart apple works - Granny Smith, Bramley, Braeburn, Pink Lady or Cortland. Avoid soft, sweet apples like Golden Delicious, which turn to mush.
Breadcrumbs or semolina: use either as the moisture barrier under the apples, or a spoon of ground almonds instead.
Vanilla sugar: swap for 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract plus 1 tablespoon of regular sugar.
Gluten-free: a good 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend works well in the shortcrust.
Sour cream: it makes the dough extra tender, but you can use thick Greek yoghurt or leave it out entirely.

What Size Tin, and How to Scale It

This is the question people get wrong most often with szarlotka, and it is the one nobody answers properly. Every recipe states its own tin and stops there, so if you own a different one you are guessing, and the usual result is either not enough dough to cover the top or a base so thin it never crisps.

The fix is easier than it looks, because what matters is the area of the tin, not its shape. This recipe is written for a 9×13 inch tin, which is about 23 by 33cm, so roughly 760 square centimetres. Work out the area of your tin, divide it by 760, and scale every ingredient by that number. For a round tin the area is 3.14 times the radius times the radius.

9×13 inch, 23x33cm The recipe as written. About 760 square centimetres.
20x30cm 600 square centimetres, so about four fifths of everything. The closest common alternative.
24cm square 576 square centimetres, so about three quarters.
23cm round springform Only 415 square centimetres, a little over half. Either halve the recipe, or make it as written and accept a much deeper cake, which needs 10 to 15 minutes longer and wants the foil tent.
20cm square 400 square centimetres, so just over half. Halve everything.

Two things do not scale with the tin. The oven temperature stays where it is, and the baking time follows the depth rather than the quantity: a deeper cake in a smaller tin needs longer, a shallow one in a bigger tin needs a little less. Go by the colour of the crumble and whether a knife slides easily into the apple.

Equipment You Will Need

The kit that keeps the base crisp and the top shaggy.

9×13-inch baking tinEssentialA wide, shallow tin spreads the apple thin so the base bakes through and crisps instead of going damp under the filling.Instead: No 9×13? A 23cm springform gives a taller cake, just add 10 to 15 minutes to the bake.Box graterEssentialChilled dough shredded on the large holes gives loose shards that bake into a proper kruszonka; rubbed crumbs just melt flat.Instead: No grater? Pinch the cold dough into rough pea-sized lumps and scatter them, keeping them deliberately uneven.Kitchen ScaleHandyPastry lives on ratios, and a scooped cup can pack in a fifth more flour than you meant, which turns short dough tough.Instead: Without one, spoon the flour into the cup and level the top rather than scooping straight from the bag.Wide pot or deep frying panEssentialSurface area is what matters when cooking apples down; a broad base lets juice steam off fast so the filling thickens rather than stews.Instead: A large frying pan with a lid does the same, or cook the apples in two batches in a smaller pan.Food processor or pastry cutterHandyKeeps warm hands off the butter, so it stays in cold flecks through the flour and the pastry bakes short instead of greasy.Instead: Cold fingertips work fine, rub quickly and stop the moment it looks like coarse crumbs.

How to Make Szarlotka, Step by Step

The card below has the quantities. This is the same nine steps with the reasoning attached, and almost all of it comes down to temperature: cold dough, cold apples, and a cold cake before you cut it.

Make the pastry. Rub the cold butter into the flour, icing sugar, baking powder and salt until it looks like coarse crumbs, or pulse it in a food processor. Work in the egg yolks, soured cream and vanilla only until the dough clumps together. It should still look crumbly, not smooth. Divide it roughly two thirds and one third.Cold is the whole point. The butter has to stay in flecks through the flour, not melt into it, and those flecks are what make the pastry short instead of greasy.
Chill both pieces. Wrap them and chill for at least 30 minutes, and put the smaller piece in the freezer for twenty if you can.The smaller piece has to be hard enough to grate later. Dough that is only cool smears into a paste instead of shredding.
Cook the apples. Peel, core and coarsely grate or dice the apples, then cook them with the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar in a wide pot over a medium heat, covered, for about ten minutes until the juice runs. Take the lid off and cook another three to five minutes, stirring, to drive the moisture off. Taste now and add sugar if your apples are very sharp.A wide pan lets the steam escape, and a tall narrow one just stews the fruit. This is your last chance to change the sweetness.
Cool the apples completely. Not warm, cold. If you are short of time, spread them on a tray to cool faster.This is the biggest thing between a crisp szarlotka and a sad one. Warm filling steams the pastry from above as soon as the two meet, and no amount of baking gets that base back.
Press in the base. Heat the oven to 190°C, 170°C fan, and grease or line a 9×13 inch tin. Press the larger piece of dough evenly across the base and prick it all over with a fork, watching the corners and the edges. For a properly crisp bottom, bake it on its own for eight to ten minutes first, then scatter the breadcrumbs or semolina over it while it is still warm.The corners and the join with the side always end up thickest.
Add the apples. Spread the cooled apples over the base in an even layer, and do not press them down.Pressing squeezes juice into the pastry underneath, which undoes the last two steps.
Grate the top. Take the smaller piece of dough straight from the freezer and grate it over the apples on the large holes of a box grater. Let the shards fall where they fall and leave them loose.Pressed down, the crumble turns into a lid. The gaps let steam out of the fruit instead of trapping it under a sealed layer.
Bake. 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden and the apples are tender. If it browns faster than it cooks, cover it loosely with foil after about forty minutes, then take the foil off for the last few so the top crisps again.
Cool it in the tin. Let it cool completely before you cut it. Dust with icing sugar to serve.Shortcrust is fragile while warm and firms up as it cools, so a slice cut hot collapses and the same cake cut cold does not. It is even better the next day.

Recipe Card for Szarlotka

Variations

Szarlotka z bezą (with meringue). Spread a layer of stiff meringue over the apples before adding the crumble for a lighter, sweeter top.
Custard layer. A thin layer of Polish budyń (custard) over the base does the same juice-soaking job as breadcrumbs and adds richness.
Bind the apples. Stir a spoon of dry jelly or pudding powder through the cooked apples to set the juices - a favourite home-baker trick.
Add-ins. A handful of raisins, dried cranberries or chopped walnuts folded into the apples is lovely.

What to Serve With Szarlotka

Szarlotka is at its best warm, dusted with icing sugar and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of lightly sweetened whipped cream (bita śmietana) to melt into the apples. A strong coffee or a glass of black tea is the classic Polish partner. For a proper Polish sweet table, serve it alongside my Sernik (Polish cheesecake) and crisp Faworki.

FAQ for Szarlotka

What is the difference between szarlotka and apple pie?

Szarlotka uses a sweet, cakey shortcrust (kruche ciasto), close to shortbread, top and bottom, with a thick, less-sweet apple filling and a grated crumble instead of a solid pastry lid. American apple pie has a thin, flaky pastry and a sweeter filling.

Why is my szarlotka watery?

The apples were not cooked down and cooled before assembling, or they were too sweet and soft. Use firm tart apples, cook off the juice, let them cool completely, and sprinkle breadcrumbs or semolina over the base.

Do I have to cook the apples first?

You can use raw grated apples, but cooking them first is strongly recommended - it removes excess juice, deepens the flavour and is the best insurance against a soggy bottom.

Should I grate or slice the apples?

Both are traditional. Grated apples give a soft, jammy filling; sliced or diced keep more texture. Either way, cook and cool them before they go in.

Can I freeze szarlotka?

Yes, it freezes very well for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, then warm it in a low oven for 20 to 30 minutes to re-crisp the crumble.

Why is my crumble not golden and crisp?

The top dough was too warm or pressed down. Grate it from well-chilled or frozen, leave it loose, and if it browns too quickly tent it with foil, removing the foil for the last few minutes to crisp up.

My dough is too soft to grate over the top - what went wrong?

The shortcrust needs to be properly cold and firm. Chill it well, or freeze the top piece for 20 minutes and grate it straight from the freezer. If it smears rather than grates, work in a little more flour.

My szarlotka is not very sweet - is that normal?

Yes, it is meant to be apple-forward rather than sugary, which is why tart apples like Antonowka are traditional. If you want it sweeter, dust the top generously with icing sugar rather than adding more sugar to the dough.

My szarlotka came out dry and hard rather than soggy. What went wrong?

This is the opposite failure to a wet one and it has opposite causes, which is worth saying because most advice about szarlotka assumes you are fighting moisture. Dry and hard usually means one of three things. The apples were cooked down too far before they went in, so there was no juice left to keep the filling soft. The dough was overworked, which develops the gluten and turns a short pastry tough and biscuity instead of tender. Or the layer of apple was too thin for the amount of pastry, which happens most often when someone uses a bigger tin without scaling the filling up. Cook the apples only until the loose juice has gone rather than until they are dry, stop mixing the dough the moment it clumps, and check the tin section above if yours is not a 9×13.

How do I know if my apples will hold up in the oven?

Test one before you peel a kilo and a half of them. Bake a few slices wrapped in foil in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes, or microwave them covered until the covering puffs with steam. If the slices still have some shape they will be fine in the cake. If they have collapsed into sauce, they will do the same here, and you want a firmer apple or a bag of Bramleys. It takes a few minutes and it is the difference between a filling you can slice and one that runs.

A Few Words from the Chef

A good szarlotka is all about the balance between sweet and sour, letting tart apples shine against the buttery, sweet pastry. Bake it, let it rest, and enjoy a slice with a strong coffee. Smacznego!

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Szarlotka (Polish Apple Cake)