I’ve been watching The Great British Baking Show and learning a lot about dishes that are new to me. Even more helpful is The Great British Baking Show Masterclass, where talented bakers Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry demonstrate their own recipes.

Paul Hollywood shared his recipe for Charlotte Russe on one of the episodes. I’d never made one so I watched carefully and wrote down all the instructions.

To say that I appreciate his skill even more now is an understatement. 😊

He made lady fingers for his dessert. So did I. Mine turned out delicious yet too thin to line the dish. I made an emergency run to the grocery store for lady fingers.

The actual custard or Bavarian cream was deliciously thick and creamy. The problem came when I tried to lined the dish with lady fingers. I didn’t know the trick to make them stand and keep them upright after pouring in the custard. A few popped up about an inch. I weighted them down with a dish and then chilled the dessert in the fridge for 3 hours. When I checked on it, 3 or 4 of the lady finger sponges were on top while the rest stayed securely at the side.

The recipe called for a lime jelly on top. I was so disappointed that a few of the lady fingers had shifted out of place that I didn’t make the jelly for the top layer. Even so, it really did taste delicious.

I found a recipe for Charlotte Russe in an 1870s cookbook. Bakers preparing this dessert in 1877 went to far more trouble than I did. They had to chill the dessert with “snow or pounded ice.”

Whipping the cream was another challenge for early bakers. They used a whip-churn if available to whip the cream into a froth. Then they had to skim off the top froth to find the unwhipped cream underneath. Then they went through the process all over again. (I used a stand mixer, which was a lot easier. 😊)

I made a strawberry Charlotte Russe. Everyone who ate it really liked it, even without the lime jelly on top.

I guess I didn’t do too badly. Have you ever made this dessert?

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.