Strawberry Charlotte

For my bookclub meeting last night, the host asked me to bring a dessert. I wanted to do something pretty and girly as it was a group of women. I have been wanting to make a strawberry charlotte for the longest time, so this seemed like the perfect time!

I looked up quite a few recipes, but couldn't find a comprehensive one that I liked, so I decided to create my own from other recipes. I had planned to make the lady fingers, but some things came up and I ran out of time. However, in the time it took to locate some lady fingers, I could have made them!

This cake was delicious, and the filling was amazing. I always wondered what ingredients were used to make this type of filling, so I'm happy to know how to now many a whipped cream filling that's stabilized and like a pastry cream. In the end, I ran out of strawberries and filled my holes with blueberries, but I wish I had enough strawberries!

Strawberry Charlotte

Cake - Simple White Cake from allrecipes

This is by far my new favorite go-to white cake recipe! It was moist and tender, like a pound cake, but fluffier and more spongey.

2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup milk

Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 2 10" cake pans with parchment and grease.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, salt and baking powder.

Alternately add the flour and milk, starting and ending with flour.

Pour into the cake pans, smooth out.

Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Strawberry Cream from the Joy of Baking

3/4 cup strawberry puree (from frozen berries in juice)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) unflavored powdered gelatin

3 tbsp. powdered sugar

Chill your mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small measuring cup stir together the gelatin and 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree.

Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes and then microwave for a few seconds to dissolve the gelatin.

Once the gelatin has dissolved, stir the gelatin mixture into the remaining 1/2 cup of strawberry puree.

Set aside while you whip the cream.

Remove the mixing bowl and whisk from the freezer, and beat the cream until soft peaks form.

Add the strawberry puree mixture and continue to beat the cream until stiff peaks form.

Taste and fold in a little sugar, if needed.

In the future, I'd double the cream recipe so I could use some to stick the ladyfingers on.

I also used fresh strawberries tossed in sugar to mascerate them and top the cake.

For assembly, I cut each cake layer in 2 and had a 4 layer cake with 3 layers of filling.