Lady finger and Charlotte Russe

Adapted from http://cilantropist.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-ladyfingers-and-pomegranate.html

Homemade Ladyfingers
3 eggs, separated
6 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
about 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Whisk the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. (Use very clean bowl, no water, no egg yolk)
2. Add sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until the whites hold stiff glossy peaks.
3. Lightly beat the egg yolks. Gently fold the yolks into the whites. (not to deflate the batter)

When the yolks are completely incorporated, the batter will be fluffy and a pale golden yellow color.

1. Sift the cake flour to the batter all at once.
2. Carefully fold the mixture together once more,

The batter will still be slightly lumpy and will have ‘pockets’ of air.

Pipe out the ladyfingers:

1. Prepare a parchment lined baking sheet
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag
4. Pipe out ladyfingers that are ¾ inch wide and any length you like.

The ladyfingers can be piped into any shape; to make the charlotte dessert, pipe out at least one ladyfinger disc that is just about ½ inch smaller than the diameter of your charlotte mold.

1. Sift a light layer of confectioners sugar over the ladyfingers.
2. Wait 10 minutes, then sift the confectioners sugar a second time;
3. Wait another 5 minutes, and then put the ladyfingers into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

After baking, cool the ladyfingers on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to the cooling rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Charlotte
Ladyfingers to fit your mold of choice: using recipe above, make enough traditional ladyfingers to go around the ring of your mold, and make at least one disc using my instructions above.

1. Whipped Cream, approximately 1 1/2 cups depending on your charlotte size
2. Blueberry for the topping

Start out by preparing your charlotte mold.  fitted the inside with parchment paper.

Next take your ladyfinger disc and place it inside the ring mold, allowing space around the outside to fit the additional ladyfingers.

Take the traditional ladyfingers, and align them so the tops are even; using a sharp knife, cut off the bottoms so that they one flat edge and all the ladyfingers are the same height.

One at a time, add the ladyfingers into the mold, the cut edge towards the bottom, until they completely form a border around the disc at the bottom.

Mousse filling

1. combine 1 cup of whipped cream with blueberry curd
2. Spoon this into the center of the charlotte mold, and fill almost completely. (you can fill halfway, and add another ladyfinger disc, or a layer of curd alone, and then fill the remainder with mousse.)
3. Put the charlotte into the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours to let the mousse set.

Before serve, add the remaining whipped cream to the top of the charlotte, and smooth out. Top the whipped cream with blackberries.