French Apple Charlotte

Preheat the oven to 375 ºF (190 ºC). Generously butter a 6-cup (1.5 L) charlotte dish (or a soufflé, or other straight-sided baking dish). Cut a circle of parchment to fit into the bottom of the dish and butter this generously as well.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the apples and butter, stirring often, until the apples no longer have juice cooking out, about 10 minutes. Add the orange zest, orange juice and sugar and cook a few minutes more, until the sugar has fully dissolved. Stir in the jam until it has melted and the sauce is a glaze consistency, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside while preparing the dish.

Cut pieces of bread to line the bottom and sides of the buttered dish (try and create a pretty pattern at the bottom, since this will be the top.) The sides can have rectangles of bread, slightly overlapping, and reserving a few slices for the top of the charlotte. Fill the dish with the apples (it is OK if they are still warm) and press down gently to pack them into place. It is OK, if the apples do not fill the dish entirely. Cut a piece of parchment into a circle big enough to rest directly on the apples and cover the exposed bread with a piece of foil, if needed.

Bake the charlotte for about 30 minutes, until the outside of the bread is toasted and golden brown, then remove from the oven and peel off the parchment circle. If the apples do not come to the top of the pan, fold over the toasted tops of the outside ring of bread slices to cover the apples, and fill in any gaps with the reserved bread, trimming to fit (if the apples do come to the top, then cover the top of the charlotte completely with the reserved bread.) Return the charlotte to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until the top layer of bread is toasted.

Cool the charlotte to lukewarm (about 90 minutes) before inverting onto a platter. Slice the charlotte to serve in wedges (it will slice like apple pie.)