“Sharlotka” is a classic Russian apple cake. In some parts of the world, it’s known as the French Apple cake. The best part? This cake only requires 5 ingredients and around 25 minutes of prep time!

Sharlotka is best described as an apple sponge cake. It’s super versatile! Pair it with a cup of coffee for breakfast, or serve it as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at your next dinner party.
Sharlotka is PACKED with apples. Unlike traditional apple pie, which is heavy on the crust, this cake makes apples the star of the show. This results in a cake that is airy, soft and beautifully simple. Dusted with powdered sugar at the end, it is an absolute show-stopper.
How to Make Sharlotka
What is Sharlotka?
Most of you already have the ingredients in your cupboard to make this yummy cake. Sharlotka doesn’t even require any milk or butter! But, there is a reason for its accessibility. During the Soviet era, money was tight and cooks had to be incredibly frugal. Sharlotka was born out of the need to stretch money, while also wanting to make a dessert that is both delicious and wholesome.
History points to sharlotka being created by French cook Marie-Antoine Careme during her time working for Russian Czar Alexander I. Russian chefs simplified his much more tedious recipe to fit their budgets and resources. Now, this lovely cake is a prime example that “delicious” does not always have to mean expensive!
Apple Cake Recipes
- Caramel Apple Cake – Caramelized apples make this delicious cake ultra-moist and decadent.
- Banana Apple Bread– A “apple-y” spin on traditional banana bread!
- Quick Apple Cake – One of my mother’s signature desserts. Made in a bundt pan, it’s the perfect dessert to “wow” your dinner guests with.

Tips for Making Sharlotka
- Use a Springform Pan – Using a springform pan means no tricky flipping! This cake is quite delicate, so using a springform will circumvent any issues with inverting it and losing its shape.
- Overmixing is a No-No! – Sharlotka is supposed to be light and airy. Overmixing the batter will make the cake dense and tough. Simply fold the flour in gently to your egg and sugar mixture until it is well incorporated.
- Let your Eggs Reach Room Temperature – Pull your eggs out of the fridge about 15 minutes before your start prepping your cake. Room temperature eggs are less viscous than cold ones and beat much better. Cold eggs can also cause your cake to cook unevenly.
- Use a Hand Mixer – When beating together your eggs and sugar, speed is key in getting the perfect texture and volume. It’s hard to achieve this by hand, so use your hand mixer or Kitchenaid.
- Slice Apples Thinly for A Different Texture – If you want your cake to be a bit more uniform, slice your apples thinly. I like to slice them chunky for texture, but either way is fine!
Commonly Asked Questions
What are the Best apples to Use in a Cake?
Feel free to use any apple in this cake. If you like it sweet, use Gala, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious or Fuji apples. If you like it sour, use Granny Smith, Jonagold or Melrose apples. You can also use an assortment of different types!

How do I Serve Sharlotka?
Sharlotka can be served warm or chilled. Either way is delicious! Eat it plain, or serve it with a dollop of lightly sweetened sour cream.
Can you Freeze Apple Sponge Cake?
Freeze Sharlotka by wrapping the completely cooled-down cake in plastic wrap. Then, place the cake in a plastic storage bag in the freezer. When you are ready to indulge, remove the cake from the plastic wrap and thaw it in the fridge overnight.
Other Quick Apple Desserts
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large apples
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Wash, peal and dice apples into one inch pieces.
- Using a mixer, beat eggs with sugar, until it’s three times in volume.
- Using a spatula, fold in flour by thirds; be very gentle with the dough, to not overmix it and lose the fluffiness.
- Lay out the diced apples on the bottom of a 9 inch pan. Cover apples with cake batter, shake the pan a bit, to spread batter between each apple piece.
- Bake it at 350F for 40 minutes, check using a wooden toothpick. If the cake is ready, the dough should not stick to the toothpick.
- Once the cake cools off a little, turn it over with the bottom up and dust with some powdered sugar.
Such an easy go-to dessert recipe when I don't have much time. I've made it twice and it was delicious both times.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Inna! Thank you for your feedback.
How do you make sure that top comes out crispy instead of uniform like the rest of the cake.
This is my grandma’s best creation and I can’t seem to make it exactly as hers
Hey Ally, we do have a crispy top also. Maybe the apples are covering your tops and preventing the crispy layer.
Hello - if I prebake and leave it in the fridge over night, at what temperature and for how long would you put it back into the oven to reheat? Thanks!
Hi Jeanette, I have not tried doing this. But I think the same temperature and only for a few minutes to warm it up. You do want it fully bake sharlotka or it will collapse in the center. Enjoy
Second one I have made .. first one was delish.. and so easy too .. this one making for my daughter in law so had to make it gluten free so we will see ..
Bonnie I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Keep me updated on the gluten-free version, I'm sure others would be interested in knowing.
There is no baking powder or n this recipe? Also, do you line the pan, just butter, or line and butter?
Hey Andriana, no need for baking powder. Typically I don't line the pan, coat the pan with butter or oil.
Haven't tried yet, it's cooling ~ it does have a crispy though not brown top, is this typical?
Yes, it's not always brown on the top.
Just made this. Both my husband and I had to have a piece straight out of the oven. Super delicious ! What a nonfussy great recipe ! I didn't peel the apples and used a 9 inch regular cake pan with parchment in the bottom. Came out perfectly ! This is a keeper . So easy , so good.
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Yes I love nonfussy desserts, perfect for everyday.
Can you bake this in a bundt pan?
Hey Sonal, yes you definitely can!
This looks delicious. I will try it for sure
How come there are no Baking Powder in it?
Hey Gigi, eggs give it enough fluffy texture so we would never add any baking powder to the dough. It works well!
If you were making this recipe and decided to use homemade apple cause with pieces in it instead of 5 apples. How much of the sauce would you say I could use in the recipe?
Hey Raya, I am worried that it would weigh down the cake because apple sauce has a lot more liquid. For don't think I would recommend using it.
I am planning to make this cake. Just one note: Marie-Antoine Careme was a guy.
Dawn, thanks for pointing that out! DARN 🙂
Your metric measurements dont work. How many ounces or grams is a cup? I'm in the UK.
Many thanks
Linda
Thank you for the heads up. We are working on fixing the bug. Depending on the ingredient, I would suggest googling the ingredient and doing conversion like that. We are working on fixing the issue. Thank you so much!
I made this today And I’m giving it to my son and his family so I’m not sure how it will taste but it looks great! I’ve been baking for a long time and and have also done it professionally. I just added a vanilla to give it a A flavor boost 🙂 I Would post a picture of that the website does not enable me to do that.
Diana, Thank you for sharing the feedback. If you have Instagram, you can always tag me on there or we have a Facebook community group. I would love to see what you made. Enjoy your day!
This was so easy and smelled so good while it was baking! The best part is eating it!! What a wonderful dessert!
Amy, you made me smile. I agree about eating it. We love it so much, glad you did too!
4 large apples for this 9 inch pan was way way too much apples,
Hardly tasted the cake in this ! Husband and I were very
Disappointed .
I actually use 2 apples and it was perfect. I wanted it fluffy so I added baking powder. It looked perfect in the oven but as soon as I took it out it looked wrinkly 😭.
Hey, yeah baking powder will do that. The original recipes comes out perfectly for us every time.
Hey Pat, sorry about that. Sharlotka tends to be mostly apples with a bit of cake.
I had a bit of a misadventure with this - I used one extra apple and a deeper pan, letting it bake till a toothpick came out totally clean. When I inverted it, it collapsed everywhere, grossly undercooked inside. So I put the mess on a baking sheet and stuck it back in the oven on turbo, till it was getting dark brown in places. It tasted incredible and I'm sure it would have been great if I let it bake longer to begin with . Two questions: 1) is there any way to check if it's baked through? 2) it's a bit sweet for my palate, can I reduce the sugar or will this affect the foaming of the egg mixture? Thanks in advance!
A cake is baked when the sides separate from the walls of the pan.
Dawn, that's a very useful tip! thanks
One of the ways you can check is the internal temperature would be at 210F. But adding an extra apple could also affect the cake because you need enough dough to hold the shape. You can reduce the sugar slightly but not. I hope it comes out perfect the next time, maybe the video would be helpful in this recipe.
Tastes delicious however my apples stuck to the bottom of the springform pan. So they weren’t thruout the cake as your picture shows. How can I avoid that?
Is it possible to make this as light using almond flour?
I make it with almond flour & it’s divine. Use 1 & 1/2 cups of almond flour.
Susan, thank you for sharing this! I know it will be helpful to so many!
Hey Anita, I have not tested this recipe with almond flour. I do think it wouldn't come out the same.
Very good recipe. It turned out exactly how I remember it from my childhood. My children were born and raised in America and they loved the pie too. They topped it with ice cream , it was delicious. Took me just 15 minutes to cut the apples, beat eggs and sugar, mix in the dough, put the pan into the oven !
Hey Julia, thank you so much for sharing your feedback. I am so happy to hear that your family loved the apple cake. Btw, we also make it with berries and it turned out amazing. 🙂
Hi Natalya, this is the same exact recipe I have made for years when I was living in the USA. But now that I am living in Russia, when I make this recipe here, now it does not rise as high nor does it create that thin layer of crust on the top (like in your top photo). What do you think I need to do differently to fix this? Thanks 🙂
Hey Lori, There are so many different factors when you live in a different country. I think the ingredients are different, egg size is not specified in Russia, flour quality and oven you use. I think it would take some practice to figure out the "right" way of making it. This was an issue we had when we moved from Ukraine to USA, none of our cakes were turning out the way they would in Ukraine.
I gilded the lily by folding in a stick of melted, browned butter; it was a fabulous cake..
Oh my goodness! You totally took it to another level. Thank you for sharing!
Natasha, I have been eyeing this recipe for a while and finally made it today... Wow, best sharlotka, ever! Crispy crust, fluffy cake, and fragrant apples... Thank you so much!
WOW, so happy to hear such an awesome feedback! Glad you guys enjoyed it.
No butter needed for this cake?
Yes, this recipe works out perfect with no butter.
I made it today with fresh apples! It was amazing! My 5 and 3 year old children basically did it themselves (under my guidance). Thank you. Will make it again!
I dont know how I missed your comment. Now after those comments I think I will make this recipe sometime soon 🙂
Made this today. Super easy, very very good 🙂 I hanks Natasha!
It does look really good!'so happy you guys loved it. The official apple season is almost here,'I can see this happening in my home 😉
Did this couple weeks ago.. not as good looking as yours... but so delicious me and my hubby finished it in a day lol had to do second one next day... (delicious, fast to make, easy to make)
Wow! This is so beautiful. I live that you shared your photo with me. Thank you!!! You rocked my day 🙂
Don't you spell it as "Charlotte" cake?
Sharlotka is a Russian cake, just written out with English letters 😉
I tried your recipe but my cake wasn't puffy as your cake . Are there any thing miss ? Like baking powder !!!!!
It's easy to overnix the cake and cake would turn out dense. And just making sure that you beat the eggs enough
hi natalya really i like your recipes .. and some problems happen with me .. -the explains that were between the pictures is disappeared .. and this is be hard to understand some recipes
i always tried your recipes and my family like your recipes really thank you
Please tell me what device you are using? Because I can see them. We can't figure out the issue 🙁 this will help us narrow things down.
Is it really 4 LARGE apples??? Because i cut only 2 n its already a lot more apples in ma pan than in ur pic!!!
And about how many mins i have to mix eggs w sugar?? 10?
I never timed it, usually just enough for the eggs to be 3x in volume. Every mixer has different settings so it hard to tell the time.
It is 4, maybe your large is larger than my large 🙂 but as long as pretty much whole pan is filled with apples.
I agree to fill pan with apple slices. More apples, less cake is my favourite.
We use early "Zestar" apples because we grow them, good flavour and available.
Spasibo!