SUNDAY DESSERT #63: Charlotte Russe
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France 🇫🇷
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Intermediate-Advanced
INSPIRATION: Last year I made a Charlotte Royale cake. Ever since making that, I wanted to try out its cousin cake, the Charlotte Russe. Also, doesn't it just look so perfect now that it is "officially" springtime? *cough cough* "You hear that, spring? It's official. You can stop snowing now."
RECEPTION/COMMENTARY: The Charlotte Russe has a complex and fascinating history. To summarize, a French chef invented and named this dessert to honor his Russian employer, the Czar Alexander the First. The name "russe" means "russian" in French.
Typically lined with sponge cake or ladyfingers, this chilled cake is filled with a creamy mousse and then topped with whipped cream. Fruit, flowers, chocolate, or nuts are examples of popular top garnishes and usually the whole cake is beautifully wrapped with a string or ribbon. It's like someone is giving you a delicious, springtime gift!
As you can see, I chose a flower garnish with rosemary and baby's breath to welcome in the season. The bottom layer is a stabilized raspberry mousse. You guys...it's so good! I honestly could eat that layer alone and be perfectly satisfied. But adding the two layers of pink and white whipped cream with the ladyfinger cookie bite just makes it perfection! It's obviously a 10/10 for taste and beauty and easily slides into the list of my favorite desserts of all time!
WOULD I MAKE IT AGAIN? A big YES for this one! Add some Cadbury eggs to the garnish and it would be a stunning treat for Easter.
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