Raymond Blanc make a delicious apple charlotte for the Autumn on Kew on a Plate.

Raymond says: “This is an elegant version of a very rustic Charlotte that my mum makes. It is lighter than the classic recipe – much lower in butter – and it has a wonderful texture and very clean, clear flavours. You will notice that I have used two varieties of apple – the Cox’s Orange Pippin has acidity and is wonderfully firm, while the Blenheim Orange begs to be puréed. The combination is what creates the magic. Bon appétit!”

The ingredients for the caramelised apples: 80g caster sugar, 25g unsalted butter, chilled and 500g Cox’s Orange Pippin apples, peeled, cored and each cut into 8 wedges.

For the compôte: 150ml fresh apple juice, 10g caster sugar, ½ tsp apple pectin, 250g Blenheim Orange apples (about 5), peeled and chopped and ½ tsp vanilla purée or good-quality vanilla extract.

For the cake ring: 50g unsalted butter, softened and 50g caster sugar.

For the Charlotte: 200g wholemeal bread, cut into 11 slices; each 5mm thick and 50g unsalted butter, softened.

See Raymond’s recipes from the series in the book titled: Kew on a Plate with Raymond Blanc (Kew Gardens) available from Amazon now.