Charlotte is an easy French dessert that I learned to make from Suzanne Lay. Here are my notes from making a Chocolate Raspberry Charlotte (Pictured Above):
- 1 box dutch fingers
- 6 egg whites
- 1 bar dark unsweetened bakers' chocolate
- 2 cups (250g) fresh raspberries
- 1 cup milk
- 1 envelope vanilla sugar (or substitute 1 tbsp sugar)
- salt
One-by-one, gently soak each dutch finger in milk and place them vertically around the perimeter of a ruffled cake pan or bowl. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave, with a spoonful or two of milk. Mix the sugar and a pinch of salt into the egg whites, and beat into a mousse. Fold the mousse into the chocolate, bit by bit. Place a layer of chocolate mousse at the bottom of the pan/ bowl, followed by a layer of raspberries and then a layer of soaked dutch fingers. Keep layering until the pan/ bowl is full. Refrigerate for 3 hours, then carefully flip onto a plate and serve cold.
I made a Strawberry version today, using:
- 2 pints strawberries
- 1 box of Dutch fingers
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
I started by lining the outside of a small pot with cream-dipped dutch fingers. I blended a few strawberries with some cream into a puree, then added the rest of the cream, the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and the vanilla sugar, and whipped it up until fairly stiffened. Alternated layers of strawberry slices, dutch fingers, and cream, ending with Dutcth fingers on top (the base, when flipped) then refrigerated.
