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Fresh Fruit Charlotte Cake

A slice of the charlotte with the remaining cake on a white platter.
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5 from 12 reviews

This fresh fruit Charlotte is one of the prettiest cakes that combines a sponge cake, Bavarian cheese mousse, and fresh red fruits. It is a fancy-ish cake for any celebration.

Ingredients

Scale

For the sponge cake:

  • 1/3 cup + 7 teaspoons (60 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (60 g) potato starch
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup + 2 1/2 teaspoons (125 g) granulated sugar
  • red food color (as needed)

For the red fruit confit:

  • 2 gelatin sheets 200 bloom
  • 7.2 oz. (205 g) mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
  • 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon (80 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon (5 g) potato starch

For the farmer's cheese mousse:

  • 3 gelatin sheets 200 bloom
  • 1 1/4 cups + 2 1/2 teaspoons (300 g) heavy cream
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon (80 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30 g) water
  • 8.8 oz. (250 g) farmer's cheese

For the decoration:

  • 7 oz. (200 g) fresh red fruits
  • 1 teaspoon powdered (icing) sugar

*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!

** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

  1. To make the red fruit confit, cover a 6 inches/15 cm round stainless steel cutter with doubled plastic film, making a plastic bottom, and put it aside. Soak gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes. In a saucepan, place the whole berries and half of the sugar. Heat the mixture over low heat for about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the rest of the sugar mixed with potato starch, stirring constantly, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the drained gelatin. Pour the confit into the ring and freeze for 3 hours.
  2. To make the sponge cake, preheat the oven to 340 degrees F/170 C. Using a flour sifter, sift flour and potato starch. Separate egg whites from egg yolks with an egg separator and reserve the whites. Using an electric mixer in a bowl, beat egg whites and gradually add the rest of the sugar until glossy. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks with half of the sugar until whitish. Then add the beaten egg whites to the egg yolks/sugar mixture. Add the dry sifted mixture (flour and starch) in several times and mix it with a rubber spatula. Add red food color as much as you wish and gently mix. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the batter to the thickness of about 1/5 inches/5 mm with a bent spatula. Bake for about 10 minutes and let it cool.
  3. Invert the baked sponge on a sheet of parchment paper and remove the parchment paper from its bottom. Cut a biscuit disk of 6.7 inches/17 cm in diameter (use a cake ring or a plate) and strips of 2 inches/5 cm wide. Line a mousse cake mold adjusted to 7 1/2 inches/19 cm in diameter with an acetate cake collar and place it on parchment. Cover the inside edges of the mold with strips and place the sponge disk at the bottom of the cake mold (it has to fit inside the lined mold perfectly). 
  4. To make the cheese mousse, soak gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes. Whisk whipping cream until soft peaks and refrigerate. In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with an electric mixer. Add the hot sugar syrup to the yolks, whisking constantly. Then add the drained gelatin while the mixture is hot and continue to beat until the preparation completely cools down. Add farm cottage cheese and mix with a rubber spatula. Finish by adding the whipped cream and whisk with a hand whisk. Transfer the mouse to a pastry bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 806.
  5. To assemble Charlotte, spread a single spiral (a bit less than 1/2 inches/1 cm thick) of the cottage cheese mousse. Place a frozen red fruit confit disk in the center and fill the remaining space to the edges with the mousse. Add another layer of cheese mousse (a bit less than one inch/2 cm thick) - it equals two spirals pushed from the pastry bag. Finish the Charlotte by making waves or a spiral on top with the use of the bent spatula. Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours; better overnight.

  6. To serve, remove the mousse cake mold by lifting it up. Peel the acetate cake film and discard it. Decorate the top of the cake with whole red berries and fresh mint leaves (photo 16) and sprinkle with powdered (icing) sugar or cover with a clear glaze. Wrap the Charlotte cake with a pretty ribbon for a final touch if desired.

Notes

  1. To make the fruit confit, replace fresh red fruits with frozen ones. As for the decoration, they are too watery: choose another way to decorate the cake.
  2. To freeze the confit, adjust a mousse cake mold to the required diameter if you do not have the correct size of a round stainless steel cutter. 
  3. If you do not have time to freeze the fruit confit disk, let it cool down. While pushing the mousse spiral, lift the mouse around, and set it aside (better in the fridge) for 10 minutes. Then place the cooled confit in the center of the cheese mousse. Refrigerate for 10 minutes again. Finish with the thick layer of the mousse as directed in the recipe. 
  4. Pass the farm cottage cheese through a fine-mesh sieve if you prefer to obtain a more homogeneous mousse.
  5. Once the mousse is ready, assemble the charlotte relatively quickly since the mousse will begin to set up with time due to included gelatin.
  6. Do not worry about the top of the cake: as long as it is even, it is enough to decorate it with fresh fruits later.
  7. Make-ahead option: make the red fruit confit and freeze it one day in advance. Make and assembled the cake the next day.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/cake-charlotte-red-fruits-laduree/