It's late summer already, and as apple season takes rein, the countryside is on everyone’s mind. Whether you're on vacation or not, it’s all too easy to plunge into the placidity of a rural retreat.
This light yet creamy apple pudding will surely enlighten your summer evenings. For some reason, it’s named after Russia's second largest and arguably most beautiful city, St. Petersburg. Perhaps it's the romantic spirit and delicacy of Russia's Northern Venice that’s embodied in this simple but inventive recipe.
So let's start!
For the pudding you will need
  • 10 apples
  • 5 eggs
  • Half a lemon
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 300g (1.5 cups) sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 330g jam (1 cup)  - any jam will do, we prefer lingonberry – easy to find in the forests outside St. Petersburg
  • 30g (0.1 cup) butter
Remove the apple cores, place the apples in the baking pan (oil it with butter beforehand), and fill them with jam.
Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Mix the yolks with lemon grate, sour cream, flour, and sugar. Stir thoroughly. Beat the whites till foamy and add to the yolk mix. Then stir again.
Pour the blend into the baking pan over the apples. Bake the pudding for 50 minutes at 120C (248F). 
Enjoy!
Russian Oven is a video series devoted to Russian pastries, featuring traditional age-old pies and cakes, inventive cookies and tarts of recent years, plus Soviet classics and much more. Stay tuned!