These small cherry Charlotte cakes make a delicious dessert perfect for any occasion. Ladyfinger biscuit made from scratch, superb Diplomat cream and sweet fruits create a wonderful treat to enjoy and share with your friends or your loved ones.
Charlotte cake. This name is just perfect for this cute dessert. Don’t you think? And talking about cuteness; Valentine’s day is around the corner. Wink. Maybe use this idea to surprise someone special to you. However, Charlotte cake is nothing else than a border made of sponge cake or ladyfinger biscuits, the filling can be anything fruity and creamy. You can create lovely alternating layers of the two as well.
Mmmm, so delicious. It’s super light, creamy, fruity and fresh. You are going to be surprised how easy it is to create these small cherry Charlotte cakes. All you need is some time. Wink.
Diplomat cream
There are two basic steps to follow. Firstly, prepare the Diplomat cream. Don’t get intimidated by the name. Diplomatic cream is simply pastry cream mixed with Chantilly cream. Oh, what is this now? Ha ha. Another fancy name for sweetened whipped cream. Wink. Combine pastry cream and whipped cream and you get the Diplomatic cream.
Easy, extremely tasty and versatile. In fact, you can use it in any, I repeat, any dessert you like. How great is that? Yes! Check also these puff pastry hearts for another light, creamy and fruity treat or this Bled cream cake in a glass. Or if you are more of a chocoholic, check these choco truffles or choco-avocado mousse. You can prepare the Pastry cream or also the Diplomat cream the day ahead.
Ladyfingers
Secondly, bake the ladyfinger biscuits for the base and for the border. Oh, by the way, Ladyfingers are those biscuits shaped like fingers or spoons, usually used to make Tiramisu. Anyway, to simplify the step where you put the cake together, I suggest drawing the shapes you need on parchment paper. You’ll need a base and a border. Since you are making two small cakes, multiply by two. Wink.
Measure the circumference of the rim of the pastry ring you are going to use. For instance, I have an 8 cm large ring. The circumference was around 25 cm (simply 8 x 3,14). Wink. A bit of math. Therefore, I draw two squares 25 cm x 15 cm. For the base, simply place the ring on the paper and draw a line following the rim.
If you do draw the forms, make sure you flip the drawings on the side down when piping on the paper. You don’t want the drawing line to stuck on the golden cookie. Wink.
Ingredients for two small cherry Charlotte cakes:
- 3 eggs
- 120 g sugar
- 2 drops of vanilla paste
- 150 g flour type 00 (sieved)
- half a pinch of baking powder
- 30 g corn starch
- you’ll also need 2 pastry rings (8 cm x 5 cm)
Ingredients for the Diplomat cream:
- 250 ml of milk
- a drop of vanilla paste
- 65 g sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 30 g flour type 00
- 5 g gelatine (leaf)
- 100 -125 ml whipping cream
- 6 g icing sugar
Ingredients for cherry topping:
- 120 ml cherry juice (from the cherry jar)
- 3-4 tbsp of cherries from the jar
- 5 g sugar
- 1/3 gelatine leaf
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, sugar, vanilla, egg yolks and sifted flour. Also, in a small bowl, soak the gelatine for 10 minutes in some cold water. Then, put the saucepan on low heat and cook and stir with a whisk until thickened. Once it has a lovely thick pudding consistency, remove from the heat, squeeze the gelatine and stir it in the pastry cream.
At this point, transfer all of the cream to a bowl, cover with a cling film foil by placing it directly on the cream. Leave it to completely chill.
Ladyfinger biscuit
Then, in a medium bowl, mix the eggs, vanilla paste and sugar (with a hand mixer) until pale and fluffy. It will take you about 7 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180º C and prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I also draw two squared forms for the Charlotte borders and two round forms, using the pastry ring, for the base (check above for more detailed information).
Then, combine flour, half of the pinch of baking powder and corn starch. Sieve a third of the flour mixture into the egg batter. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour gently into the batter, always going from bottom up.
Once the flour is well incorporated, sieve in the next third and do the same with the last. Next, put the batter into a piping bag with a large round nozzle and pipe it onto the parchment paper (the drawing facing down). For the round shapes, simply start at the centre of the circle and create a spiral around it.
For the border, pipelines of batter next to each other (they should touch and be double the height of your ring) in a row long as the circumference of the pastry ring (if longer, you can simply cut off). Use the remaining batter to make single Ladyfingers for another day.
Lightly sprinkle everything but the two base pieces with sugar and put to bake for about 5-7 minutes. When they turn golden and puffed, remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool down.
How to put the Charlotte cake together
Meanwhile, place the two pastry rings on a small tray or plate which can fit the fridge. Gently take the long square ladyfinger biscuit piece and, by slightly bending it, place it inside the pastry ring leaning it against it. The lines should be looking vertically out of the ring. Basically, you create a small chimney. Wink. Press the ending together, so that they won’t split when you remove the ring.
Moreover, place the base inside the ring. You might have to resize the base a bit. Simply cut it with the knife. The base should fit as tight as possible.
Furthermore, in a bowl whip some cream and when soft peaks appear, add some sugar. Whip so long until you get stiff peaks. Take the chilled pastry cream and quickly soften it with a hand mixer. Then, add it to the whipped cream and stir until well incorporated and the Diplomat cream is ready.
Using a piping bag, fill the Charlottes with the Diplomat cream up to half or two thirds. Cover with cling foil and place in the fridge overnight.
The next day, place the cherries in a sieve. Take the drained juice, put it in a small saucepan, combine it with sugar and bring to a light boil. At this point, remove from the heat and stir in the soaked gelatine. Last but not least, add the cherries, stir and leave to cool down.
Finally, carefully remove the rings from the cakes, add two spoons of cherries on top of the cream, sprinkle with some icing sugar and serve. These small cherry Charlotte cakes are a wonderful, simple and cute dessert great for anytime you want to create a special moment. It’s a lovely idea for Valentine’s day, too.
Enjoy!
