Charlotte di Lamponi {Raspberry Charlotte}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Desserts, Gluten Free, Vegetarian | 19 comments

Okay okay for those dessert purists out there this is not exactly a Charlotte…It did start out as a Charlotte mind you and ended up as a Charlotte of sorts. How about that? Yes, I must explain…I thought I could get away with making this without a Charlotte Mould, because I have always had the “how hard can it be mentality” or just stubborn as my Mamma would tell you. Either way, I set about making this beautiful dessert using what I had on hand which was a souffle mould.  

I’m sad to say that didn’t work so well. The ladyfingers decided they wanted to float around as the raspberry cream was being poured in. Not good. So, I pulled the ladyfingers out, saved them to snack on and then decided a spring form pan would do the trick & luckily I had a second bag of ladyfingers on hand, whew!

Well, I now had a new problem…if I had an 8″ spring form pan it would have worked beautifully, however, my spring form is 10″ sigh…Not only did I have to cut the ladyfingers to fit {not an easy task but a serrated knife works best if you’re in the same predicament} there simply wasn’t enough raspberry cream because the pan was larger. I was about 1″ shy. sigh…

So with not enough cream I simply wasn’t able to INVERT the beautiful Charlotte so this instead is a Charlotte-esque dessert. It is still incredibly delectable, it is just  marching to it’s own drum {kinda like me LOL} So to compensate I filled the bottom ehem top of my Charlotte with more raspberries and it was beautiful!

In hindsight {isn’t it always so clear} I could have used my large brioche/tortilla mould. Oh well, c’est la vie. Live and learn ; ) If you have the proper pan you can invert this, if not that’s okay too you’ll just have a Charlotte-esque dessert like me ; )

 Baci!

What you’ll need:
12-14 Saviordi {Ladyfingers}
18 ounces raspberries
3 teaspoons gelatin {1 1/2 packets of Knox Gelatin}
3 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
7 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons confectioners sugar

What to do:
1. Place the egg yolks and sugar into your mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment,  mix together until light and creamy.

2. WHILE the mixer is going, place the milk and vanilla extract into a large sauce pan over medium - high heat. Cook until it is near boiling. Remove from heat.

3. Slowly temper the warm milk mixture with the egg mixture. Stir well to combine. Return sauce  pan to low heat and cook until mixture coats the back the wooden spoon.

4.  WHILE mixture is cooking, into a large mixing bowl place enough ice and water to hold the sauce pan without submerging it. When mixture has coated the spoon set the sauce pan into the bowl of ice water and allow  it to cool.

5. WHILE the mixture is cooling, into a small  bowl add 4.5 tablespoons of COLD water, sprinkle the gelatin on top and allow it to congeal. Do NOT stir. Once it has set up, add the gelatin to the cream mixture and whisk together to combine.

6. Puree 12 ounces of raspberries with an immersion blender or a regular blender. Add the raspberries to the cream mixture and whisk to combine.

7. Place your whisk attachment and bowl into the freezer to allow it to chill prior to whipping the cream. Once your bowl is ready, add the heavy whipping cream and confectioners sugar and with the whisk attachment mix until you have achieved whipped cream. GENTLY fold the cream into the cream mixture.

8. Line the bottom of your charlotte pan {or alternative pan} with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit. Carefully line the outside of your pan with ladyfingers {if you are using an alternative pan you might need to cut your ladyfingers to fit} GENTLY ladle the raspberry cream mixture into the pan, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for a minimum of four hours  to set up.

9. When your charlotte is ready, invert it onto a serving plate and garnish with additional 6 ounces of reserved raspberries. {Or if you’re not using a proper mold just garnish the top with the remainder of the berries}

Buon Appetito!