Strawberry & vanilla charlotte

Strawberries are back ! So, no classic « fraisier » yet but a delicious, light and fragrant charlotte. Homemade ladyfingers, vanilla mousse and fresh strawberries are on the menu in this fresh dessert, and it's quick and easy to make, so what more could you ask for? If you don't have vanilla, you can flavor the cream with lemon zest, mint, basil ... strawberries go well with lots of things so enjoy!

Prep time: 45 minutes + 10 minutes cooking
For a 18 to 20cm charlotte :

Ladyfingers :

120g egg whites (about 4 whites)
100g of caster sugar
80g egg yolks (about 5 yolks)
100g T55 flour
Icing sugar

Start by preparing a French meringue: whisk the egg whites, then add the sugar in three times gradually increasing the speed of the robot. The meringue is ready when it is smooth and shiny.



Then add the egg yolks and whisk again for a few seconds, just long enough to incorporate them.



Finish by delicately incorporating the sifted flour with a maryse/spatula.



When the cake batter is smooth, put it in a pastry bag  with a plain tip (10-12mm diameter).



Pipe (on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper) ladyfingers (like you can see on the photo, be careful to have enough ladyfingers to be able to circle your cake pan) and a 20 tp 22 cm spiral
(depending on the size of the cake pan you will use for assembly).




Sprinkle the ladyfingers with icing sugar, wait two minutes and sprinkle them a second time.



Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for about 10 minutes (the cake must go up when you put a finger in it, but it must be very soft). When it comes out of the oven, put it on a wire rack and let it cool.

Vanilla mousse :

125g whole milk
125g cream 30 or 35% fat
20g caster sugar
80g egg yolks
5g gelatin
1 vanilla pod
280g whipped cream

Let’s start with egg custard:
Put the gelatin in cold water.
Bring the milk with the cream and the vanilla seeds to the boil.



Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar.



Pour half the hot milk over it, stirring, then pour everything back into the pan.



Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spatula or whisk until it reaches a temperature of 83 ° C. If you do not have a thermometer, immerse the spatula in the cream and make a line over it with your finger, if the cream holds it is ready, if it drips it is not cooked enough.



Out of the heat, add the rehydrated and wrung gelatin in the cream, then cover the custard with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to cool it.



When the custard reaches 30-35°C, whip the cream.



Add a spoonful of whipped cream to the custard, then gently mix the two masses with a maryse or spatula.

Assembly and decoration :

250g strawberries for garnish
80g cream 30 or 35% fat + 20g icing sugar for whipped cream
100g strawberries for decoration
QS of crispy rapsberry pearls by Valrhona (optional)
1 tablespoon strawberry syrup (optional)

Cut out the base of the ladyfingers so that the bottom of the charlotte is straight. Then place it all around the cake pan. Cut the round cake to the right size and place it at the bottom, and if you want, soak it with the strawberry syrup mixed with a little water (or a classic punch : sugar and water, or alcohol ...).





Pour 1/3 of the vanilla mousse, put a few crisp rapsberry pearls and then a few fresh strawberries cut into pieces.






Cover with mousse, then strawberries, mousse, crisp pearls and so on until you don’t have vanilla mousse anymore. Finish with vanilla mousse and smooth the surface.



Put it in the fridge for a few hours (or freezer if you are in a rush). Then, when the mousse is set, unmold the charlotte. Now, you can decorate it.
If you do it the same as me, whip the cream with the icing sugar. Cut the strawberries into slices and arrange them on the charlotte.



Put the whipped cream in a pastry bag with a saint-honoré tip and pipe it in on the charlotte.
And now, enjoy !