For the June daring bakers challenge Rebecca from BakeNQuilt.com challenged us to make Charlotte Royale and Charlotte Russe from scratch. Savory or sweet Charlottes were definitely tasty showstopper
I think that this months Daring Bakers challenge has got to be my favourite one yet; we were challenged to make either a Charlotte Royale or a Charlotte Russe. For those of you who don't know what those are, a Charlotte Royale is a dome shaped dessert made up of slices of jam filled swiss roll on the outside, filled with Bavarian cream; it looks somewhat brain-like... which is why I chose to make the Charlotte Russe, which is a ring of sponge fingers filled with Bavarian cream or mousse.
I made my own sponge fingers, though you can use shop bought if you prefer. I was originally going to make a pear and caramel one, but then decided that there is so much beautiful fresh fruit around at the moment that it would be a shame not to use it, so went for mixed summer berry instead. It was so good though that I will definitely be making another at some point so will make pear and caramel next time.
The challenge was also quite well timed as it was my birthday on Tuesday, so I had this as my cake. My birthday present was also a shiny new DSLR camera! So hopefully my photos will start to improve. These were the first pictures I took with it - not bad for a first attempt I think, especially considering I only had time to quickly snap a couple as everyone was eager to dig in!
I made the Charlotte while I was staying at my parents house, so was slightly limited with equipment, I forgot to take a piping bag with me so ended up having to use a sandwich bag to pipe the sponge fingers, so they aren't quite as neat as I would have liked...I also forgot to line the tin before I arranged them in it so they stuck a little... It was nice to have somewhere new to take photos though, my parents have a lovely garden so I was able to get a good set up.
The Charlotte is filled with a mixed berry Bavarois (Bavarian cream), which is essentially a berry custard, mixed with whipped cream and set with gelatin. It is fantastically light and smooth, similar to a mousse; and is quite simply one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten, I was very disappointed that there were quite a few people there to eat the Charlotte so I only got one slice... You will need to start the day before you want to serve it as it is best to let the bavarois set overnight, and it will keep for up to two days in the fridge, so is the perfect make-ahead dessert.
Mixed Summer Berry Charlotte Russe
Ingredients
Sponge fingers and base
- 2 large eggs separated
- 65 g (⅓ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 50 g (scant ½ cup) plain flour
Mixed Berry Bavarois
- 4 sheets leaf gelatin
- 245 g (8.5 oz) mixed berries, fresh or defrosted frozen (I used raspberries, blackberries, blueberries & redcurrants)
- 85 ml (⅓ cup) full fat milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 85 g (⅓ cup + 2tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar
- 250 ml (1 cup) whipping cream
To Decorate
- about 300g mixed berries I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries & redcurrants
- icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Draw a 13cm (5in) circle on a sheet of baking parchment, turn it over and place it on a baking sheet. Draw two long rectangles 8cm (3in) wide slightly spaced apart on another piece of parchment, turn it over and place it on the baking sheet.
- Put the egg whites in a large, spotlessly clean bowl and whisk until they form soft peaks, gradually add the sugar and continue to whisk until it is stiff and glossy.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl until pale, thick and increased in volume then scrape them onto the meringue and gently fold together. Sift half of the flour over the eggs and carefully fold in, then sift over the rest of the flour and fold in, keeping the mixture as light as possible.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1.5 cm (½ in) plain round piping nozzle. Pipe a spiral of mixture to fill in the 13cm circle then pipe strips crosswise inside the rectangles, making sure that they are just touching, you want to end up with two long strips to wrap around the inside of your tin. Bake for 10-20 minutes until golden then leave to cool on the tray.
- To make the bavarois, put the gelatine in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak. Puree the berries until smooth then scrape the puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, measure out 170ml (scant ¾ cup) of puree and pour it into a saucepan along with the milk., bring to the boil over a medium heat.
- Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and sugar in a heat proof bowl and whisk until pale; gradually pour the hot berry mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour it back into the pan and return to a medium/low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until it has thickened, it should reach 75-80C (167-176F) on a thermometer.
- Remove from the heat, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine and add it to the custard, whisk until it has dissolved then pour it into a clean bowl, cover, and refrigerate until it is just beginning to set, mine took about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, line the base and sides of a deep, 15cm/6in round loose bottomed cake tin with parchment paper. Trim one edge of each of the strips of sponge fingers so that they will sit flat, place the strips around the inside edge of the cake tin, cut side at the base, trimming off any excess so they you have one continuous, tight fitting ring of sponge fingers.
- Press the sponge disc into the middle of the fingers, trimming it to fit if necessary, and pushing right down so that it sits flat on the bottom of the cake tin, it should be quite a tight fit between the base and the ring of sponge fingers.
- Pour the cream into a bowl and whisk until it forms soft peaks, pour it into the berry custard and fold together. Pour the bavarois into the sponge finger ring, cover, and transfer to the fridge until it is completely set, at least four hours, preferably overnight.
- To serve, carefully unmould the Charlotte and use a spatula or fish slice to lift it onto a serving platter. Arrange the berries on top and sift icing sugar liberally over it.
Notes
Adapted from Patisserie Made Simple by Edd Kimber
I am sharing this with Create Link Inspire, Fabulous Foodie Fridays, Fiesta Friday hosted by The Brook Cook and Hostess At Heart, Foodie Fridiy, Foodie Friends Friday and Friday Favourites
Julie is Hostess At Heart
Your Charlotte Russe came out beautifully! What a celebration of summer.
hannahhossack
Thanks Julie 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche
You have clearly done the classic charlotte justice.. this is baked to perfection. Yum!
hannahhossack
Thanks Thalia 🙂
Francijn
What a beautifull, tempting pictures of your charlotte! Congratulations!
hannahhossack
Thank you!
tammyrenea
I've never made a charlotte russe, but your pictures are an inspiration to do so. 🙂 Just beautiful.
hannahhossack
Thank you! This was my first Charlotte, but it was so good that it definitely wont be my last! 🙂
Katka
Your Charlotte looks great! I love the combination of mixed berries mousse and vanilla sponge fingers... And the pictures are really beautiful! A new camera, you said? As it is quite hot here and we are in the middle of the strawberry season, I have tried a chocolate Charlotte filled with chocolate-strawberry ice cream 🙂 http://www.navidlicku.blogspot.cz/2015/06/the-daring-bakers-sarlota-s-cokoladovo.html
hannahhossack
Thank you! Your ice cream Charlotte looks amazing 🙂
prettypolymath
it looks absolutely stunning! I've never actually had a charlotte before, but i'm def intrigued now!
hannahhossack
Thank you! Charlottes are absolutely delicious, the berry bavarois is one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten, you should definitely give one a go!
Julianna
What a beautiful cake! Very, very pretty.
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
Girl and the Kitchen
Wow I'm impressed. I made this in culinary school once and vowed never again! I am impressed you did this so well and so beautifully!
hannahhossack
Ha Ha! I enjoyed making it 🙂 though it didn't turn out quite as neat as I would have liked... x
Amy
Happy (belated) birthday! Your charlotte russe is simply beautiful, and what a wonderful celebration of all the fresh berries. This is definitely a showstopping dessert!
hannahhossack
Thank you! 🙂
Fionnuala
This looks fantastic. I am very impressed.
Thanks for confessing to making it away from home. While this looks amazing, I know how you feel about being without your usual equipment.
Belated happy birthday!
#foodyearlinkup.
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂 My kitchen is my comfort zone so it always feels a bit weird and uncomfortable cooking in someone else's kitchen, even my parent's which used to be my home!
Josette@thebrookcook
Wow. Stunning, as usual!! The berries make it look so beautiful and seasonal too. Sounds like I should peek at the Daring Bakers Challenge. 🙂 Happy Fiesta Friday & Happy July 4th!
hannahhossack
Thanks Josette 🙂 I really enjoy the Daring Bakers, I've tried (and enjoyed) so many things that I would never have thought to because of it
GFLife247
I love this because it's even more festive as you cut inside. Happy FF, and have a wonderful weekend! 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you! 🙂
Shari from GoodFoodWeek
Impressive - I make a strawberry mousse cake which is similar and is always a hit. Your cake looks amazing.
hannahhossack
Thank you, I've been really craving mousse recently for some reason, so strawberry mousse cake sounds amazing! 🙂
Dani @ House in Tillford
wow what a pretty dessert! I am pinning this to try!
hannahhossack
Thank you!
Cynthia
I've never heard of this dessert before but it looks absolutely GORGEOUS and delicate! You are so great at making cakes and so glad to have been introduced to it this FF! Have a great week darling!
hannahhossack
Aww thanks Cynthia 🙂 very kind of you!
Charlotte Oates
Definitely the right decision to go for the Charlotte Russe rather than the Charlotte Royale. I'm sure the Charlotte Royale tastes delicious, but like you say it's rather brain-like, whereas yours looks very pretty.
I've not made a Charlotte before, but reading your description it's now added to the list of things I'd like to try.
I've always loved your pictures so look forward to seeing what you create when you've had a bit of practice with your new camera.
hannahhossack
I think that the Charlotte Royale might have won by a margin in the taste department as jammy swiss roll beats sponge fingers, but the Charlotte Russe definitely wins in the looks category! You should absolutely give it a go, the bavarois was out of this world!
The new camera is going to take a lot of practice to work out all of the settings (shutter speed...?!), but it does seem to be much easier to get good shots with it than with the one I was using previously so I'm very happy 🙂 x
tentimestea
How beautiful, and a lovely use of summer fruit! And what great news about the camera...though your pictures are so beautiful already, I can't imagine them improving even more!
hannahhossack
Ha ha! Thank you 🙂 I am never happy with my photos, but that's probably just me!
dishofdailylife
This is absolutely stunning! And it looks so delicious! Pinning and sharing!
hannahhossack
Thanks Michelle!
Friday Features w/Linky
Oh my heavenly goodness, this looks delicious!!! I found you on Friday Foodie party.
I would like to invite you to stop by and share posts and your party on my Friday Features this week.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Karren
hannahhossack
Thank you! I've linked up a couple of posts to your Friday Features 🙂
Mother Mands
My nan used to make Charlottes a lot when I was little, I loved them. I recently tried one from the Laudree cookbook...what a mess, total fail! 😀 Your recipe looks fantastic and loads easier to pull off, so I will be having another bash 😉
hannahhossack
Oh no! You would think that a Laudree recipe would be quite good...though I have had several failures from books by professional cooks/pastry chefs where I think that the recipe didn't translate well from a professional kitchen to a home one...