Charlotte

By ctozzi

A charlotte alternates sponge cake and mousse, custard or cheesecake. I have made a charlotte tiramisu which will go down as the most decadent dessert I have ever made and made quite an impression on everyone I served it to. I highly suggest this but beware, once you serve it the interest around what else you can do will begin. It can be served hot or cold and traditionally was made using day old bread. Think outside the box on this one. My thoughts drift to a warm bread pudding with cheesecake and caramel. Try instant mousse and add sugar free Jello powder to it for flavoring or fruit puree. If instant mousse is not available you can use heavy whipping cream whipped to a stiff peak stage and add the Jello powder to it.

Ingredients

• I'm offering my charlotte tiramisu recipe. Keep in mind this was made for work so I could not use alcohol. Once complete the inside is a beautiful marbling of cream and chocolate.
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark rum (I substituted with rum extract)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• splash of Amaretto (I substituted with almond extract)
• 2 1/2 lbs. mascarpone
• 36 ladyfingers
• 2 cups coffee reduction or espresso (I used instant espresso powder without the kahlua)
• splash Kahlua
• chocolate shavings (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Make the coffee reduction or espresso.
Whisk egg yokes, rum, Amaretto, sugar, and water over a hot water bath (use a double boiler if you have one) until thick and ribbony. This mixture when finished is called zabaglione.