Charlotte Royale Cake

Take a bite out of summer and make this stunning cake - raspberry Charlotte Royale. Lined with a rolled biscuit and filled with silky Bavarian cream and fresh raspberries, the dessert looks astonishing. Rich, sweet, and delicious - you will surely get back for more!

Follow my step-by-step photographed explanations, expert tips, and tricks to help you succeed with this incredibly yummy and delicious recipe.

After a pretty-in-pink Lychee cake, another gorgeous dessert is Charlotte Royale. 

The irresistible charm of Charlotte cakes is known to capture people's attention. Their external allure, brought about by a delightful combination of flavors and beautifully sliced layers, makes them a special treat.

Over the years, Charlotte cakes have gained immense popularity since their invention by the French chef Marie-Antoine Carême.

While strawberry Charlotte may be a simple dessert, its sophisticated counterpart, Charlotte Royale, poses a more technical challenge. However, this guided recipe and accompanying step-by-step photographs will quickly guide you through the process.

What is Charlotte Royale?

Charlotte Royale is a half-sphere-shaped dessert made from slices of raspberry Swiss roll cake, filled with classic Bavarian cream and fresh raspberries.

As per Joe Pastry,

 Charlotte Royale is ... a dressed up version of Charlotte russe.

Charlotte Royale and Charlotte Russe have the same mousse filling, but the Royal version replaces Charlotte Russe's ladyfinger lining with Swiss roll slices.

Charlotte Royale recipe

• Charlotte Royale is a crowd-pleasing classic holiday treat perfect for special occasions.

• Served cold, it is primarily a warm-season dessert.

• Using fresh seasonal raspberries or other red fruits makes the cake one of the best summer favorites.

Ingredients

Get a quick overview of the necessary ingredients. For precise measurements and instructions, refer to the recipe card below. Also, discover the essential baking tools I rely on for daily baking.

• Eggs: Whether you use whole eggs or just egg yolks, use large eggs. Make sure the eggs are at room temperature.

• Sugar: Use granulated sugar for this recipe.

• Flour: All-purpose flour is what you need here. To make a gluten-free biscuit, replace all-purpose flour with cornstarch or rice flour.

• Potato starch: You can switch it to corn starch if you prefer.

• Raspberry jam: Choose to use a homemade or a store-bought raspberry jam. If you do not like seeds, please use a seedless raspberry jam. You can also replace it with another fruit jam if you desire.

• Milk: For the best taste, use whole milk, although you can replace it with low-fat milk.

• Gelatin sheets: Use gelatin sheets with a strength of 200 bloom. To substitute leaves of gelatine in the recipe, use 8 g of powdered gelatin and ¼ cup (60 ml) of cold water.

• Vanilla bean: Use top-quality Madagascar vanilla bean or replace it with 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.

• Heavy cream: Use your favorite heavy or heavy whipping cream brand with at least 30% fat content.

• Fresh raspberries are the stars of Charlotte Royale, but you can replace them with other fresh seasonal fruits such as strawberries.

• Cake glaze or neutral topping is optional, but if you make the cake in advance, you will need to brush the dessert with a clear glaze to prevent it from drying out.

How to make Charlotte Royale

Making Charlotte Royal includes a few steps: preparing the rolled biscuit, making the Bavarian cream, and assembling the Charlotte.

Step 1. To make the rolled cake, preheat oven to 390°F (200°C). Sift flour and potato starch in a large bowl and set aside.

Step 2. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks with an egg separator. Beat the whites at medium speed, gradually adding sugar. Once the meringue is glossy, decrease the mixer speed and add egg yolks whisked as an omelet.

Step 3. Beat the mixture for the other 15 seconds till all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add the sifted dry ingredients and gently mix with a spatula (photo 1).

Step 4. Divide the batter into two parts. Spread the first part of the batter on a 12 x 16 inches (30 x 40 cm) baking sheet covered with parchment paper to the thickness of ⅕ inches (5 mm) and smooth with a bent spatula (photo 2).

Pro tip: Alternatively, use a non-spill baking sheet (no need to grease it).

Step 5. Bake for 10 minutes (photo 3). Once the biscuit is ready, remove it from the oven and cover it with a clean tea towel.

Step 6. Flip it on top of the cloth and carefully remove the parchment or silicone sheet: gently lift the corners and then the mat or paper's whole surface.

Step 7. Cover the biscuit with another parchment layer and roll it from the long side to let it cool and keep the moisture (photo 4). Repeat the same with the second part of the cake batter.

Step 8. Unwrap the cooled cake (photo 5). Spread a thin layer of the raspberry jam and roll it into a tight spiral with parchment (photo 6).

Pro tip: Read on how to make a cake roll.

Step 9. Wrap the rolled biscuit in a plastic film and refrigerate for about three to four hours to facilitate cutting.

Make Bavarian cream

Step 10. To make the Bavarian cream, first, make cream Anglaise or vanilla custard. Place gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water and let it soak for 10 minutes. Bring whole milk with the scraped vanilla seeds to a boil.

Pro tip: Consult the Bavarian cream recipe for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.

Step 11. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar, then pour in the hot milk slowly while continually stirring.

Step 12. Bring the yolk mixture back to a saucepan, cook over low heat, and continue whisking.

Step 13. Once the custard coats the back of the spoon and reaches 179°F (82°C) - use a sugar thermometer - and take the pot from the heat.

Step 14. Add the drained gelatin. Transfer the custard to another bowl, cover it with plastic wrap in contact, and let it cool to room temperature.

Pro tip: Consult the recipe for creme Anglaise for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.

Step 15. Pour heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whip attachment (you can use an electric mixer) and whisk cream until soft peaks (photo 7).

Pro tip: Read about the peak stages of whipped cream.

Step 16. Add the whipped cream to the cooled custard, gently mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula (photo 8). Let it rest to thicken slightly, occasionally stirring.

Step 17. To assemble Charlotte cake, line the bottom and sides of a bowl 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter with a plastic film.

Step 18. Cut the edges of the sponges with a sharp knife, then cut rolled biscuits into thin slices - 5 mm or ⅕ inch thick (photo 9).

Step 19. Arrange them at the bottom and sides of the lined bowl, pressing them against each other and the dish (photo 10).

Step 20. Pour a third of the Bavarian cream in the center and distribute half of the fresh raspberries (photo 11).

Step 21. Pour another third of the cream again and repeat the layer of raspberries (photo 12).

Step 22. Finish with the cream. Cover the bottom of the bowl with the remaining rolled biscuit slices (photo 13), and place a plastic film on top of the biscuits.

Step 23. Cover the top of the bowl with a cardboard base to pack everything. Finally, refrigerate the Charlotte cake for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours.

To serve, remove the cardboard and plastic, flip the cake on a serving plate, lift off the bowl, and serve immediately (photo 14).

Optionally, brush the surface of the cake with a thin layer of a clear glaze and refrigerate until serving. 

If you feel about decorating your Charlotte, you can arrange red fruits and mint sprigs on top of the cake.

You can also whip Chantilly cream, place it in a pastry bag fitted with an open star pastry tip, and pipe a continuous design of scallops around the base of the Charlotte.

Expert Tips

1. Make two sponge rolls out of the biscuit ingredients provided in the recipe to get enough slices. You will use one and a half rolls to choose the beautifully looking cake slices.
2. Spread a THIN layer of the raspberry jam over the biscuit to get neat slices with cutting.
3. Roll the biscuit from either end: if you roll from the short end, the slices will be larger.
4. Press the cake slices against the bowl to prevent Bavarian cream from overflowing afterward.
5. Start making Bavarian cream once you are ready to assemble the cake; otherwise, it will thicken before you slice up the cake roll.
6. Wait for the Bavarian cream to thicken slightly; otherwise, it will leak between the cake slices and the bowl. In this case, you will end up with the cake covered by Bavarian cream on top of slices.
7. Make-ahead option: Prepare the Swiss roll cakes on the first day, assemble the cake on the following day, and keep it wrapped in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

Recipe variations

Everyone loves classic Charlotte Royale, but if you are ready to add a modern twist on tradition, try experimenting with new additions to the classic recipe.

• Rolled biscuit: Try to make a chocolate version of Charlotte Royale by swapping the classic Swiss roll for its chocolate variation.

• Filling: While Bavarian vanilla or raspberry cream is classic for making the Charlotte Royale, strawberry or chocolate cream is something for you to give a try.

• Fruits: Use strawberries to make strawberry Charlotte Royale and even blueberries or cherries as other fruit variations. Swap raspberry jam for another fruit jam accordingly.

If fresh fruits are out of the season, you can use the remaining rolled biscuit slices to fill the Charlotte. Just use them instead of berries: arrange slices in layers or insert them into the cream randomly.

Another way to make a plain (without fresh fruits) Charlotte is to double the Bavarian cream recipe and add more vanilla to accentuate the taste.

• Shape: Make your Charlotte Royale in a classic cake mold instead of using a glass bowl that shapes it into a half-sphere.

Storing and freezing

Store Charlotte Royale under a glass dome in the refrigerator for up to 24-48 hours.

Can you freeze Charlotte Royale? It is not recommended to freeze the Charlotte cake since it is prepared with gelatin, which does withstand freezing temperatures.

Recipe FAQ

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Recipe card

Follow my step-by-step photographed explanations, expert tips, and tricks to help you succeed with this incredibly yummy and delicious recipe.

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from https://www.mercotte.fr/. It was originally published on June 04, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.