Ordinarily when we have one of these major construction jobs to do, I map out a game plan about what I can do ahead and how much time I want to allow myself for each component of then dessert.  Then I figure out how far in advance I can make each component and how long they will keep and then set to work making the components step by step and storing them away.  Then when the weekend comes all I really have to do is assemble all the components into the finished dessert and it hardly seems like I have expended any energy at all.  That is exactly what I did this time…. and then a major personal crisis came along and turned this into the week from hell.  To put it mildly I was a total and complete mess all week.  I seriously thought about just chucking the whole idea of making this dessert. I was barely in the mood to open a can of soup for dinner let alone embark on a project like this.  Then I started feeling guilty for not following through on something I had set out to do and then I guilted myself into going ahead with it.  I thought maybe that by working on this cake it would take my mind off of what was going on elsewhere.  Well, it worked…sort of.  I got so into following my game plan that I totally forgot to take any pictures while I was working.  At any rate I did manage to snap off a few of the finished dessert and I include those. I didn’t really find any part of this dessert very challenging, just time consuming and alot of pots and pans.  I am still a bit out of it so I am not going to go through everything that I did.  I took the cake to work and did manage to taste a tiny bit.  I thought it was delicioius but I do have several other apple charlotte recipes that are alot less work.  It would have to be a pretty special occasion for me to go through all this trouble again.  My coworkers all loved it so I guess it was worth the effort.  Enjoy!

Next Up:  Chocolate Tomato Cake with Mystery Ganache