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1
Place all fruit in a 3-quart saucepan.
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2
Add cider and sugar, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until fruit is tender and mixture has thickened, about 15 minutes.
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3
Remove from heat.
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4
Remove crusts from bread.
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5
Cut slices to fit tightly in bottom of a 6- to 8-cup straight-sided ovenproof mold, like a charlotte mold or souffle dish.
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6
Cut enough half-slices to fit around sides of mold, slightly overlapping.
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7
You should also have enough bread left to cover top.
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8
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
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9
Heat 1/4 cup butter in a skillet.
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10
Lightly saute bread pieces for bottom of mold on both sides until golden.
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11
Place in mold.
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12
Add more butter and continue sauteing bread pieces for sides and fit them into mold.
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13
Pile fruit into bread-lined mold, pressing it in tightly.
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14
Brush bread for top of mold with remaining butter and put in place.
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15
Bake 15 minutes until top is well browned.
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16
Allow to cool 30 minutes, run a knife around outside, turn upside down onto a serving dish and unmold.
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17
Serve with creme fraiche.
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18
Charlotte can be frozen in its baking dish, thawed and baked at 300 degrees for 25 minutes to reheat before serving.
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19
It can also be frozen, unbaked, brought to room temperature and baked before serving.
