Little Apple Charlottes

Saw these in Southern Living and they were so cute, Had to try them. They were a little work but they were so worth it. Delicious and beautiful.
Position rack in the middle of oven and heat to 375º
Filling:
6-7 medium apples
1 lemon
1 vanilla bean
⅓ c raisins (opt)
⅓ c golden raisins (opt)
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp Brandy
Crust:
1 loaf of Pepperidge Farm Classic White Bread
1 c unsalted butter (melted)
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Scoop of ice cream for serving
Peel and core apples, peel zest off half of lemons, slice vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Toss apples, lemon zest, bean seeds, raisins and pod together - set aside. In a skillet melt 5 tbsp butter over med-high and add sugar. When moist add your apple mix, stir to release liquid. Cook for about 7 minutes, they will look soft on outside but still be crunchy inside. Set apples aside to cool slightly then add 1 tbsp Brandy.
Prepare crust:
Mix sugar and cinnamon together in shallow bowl, set aside. Trim crust off of bread, cut into 8 rounds to fit into bottoms of ramekins. Using the rest of bread, cut into rectangles to fill sides of ramekins (the walls). the bread should go up sides but not past rims. Trim them if you need. First melt butter and brush sides of ramekins, now dip bread rounds into butter then dredge ONE side into sugar mix. Place circles into bottoms of ramekins - sugar side down (against ramekin).
Pick out pod and lemon peels from apple mix, now fill each ramekin with apple mix. Press mix down to get rid of air pockets. Be generous with filling - it will cook down.
Arrange on cookie sheet with edges and loosely cover with foil, bake 40 minutes until done. Check them because they will get dark.
To check them:
Run knife around edges of ramekins, knock on bottom and invert on plate. It should be caramelized and golden.
You can eat it out of ramekin or invert it and plop a scoop of ice cream on top. Eat it hot, room temperature or even cold.

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