As I mentioned in my last post, we were at my parents’ house in Rhode Island enjoying the New England summer. During our time there we also celebrated my husband’s “real” birthday. I call it his real birthday because on his birth certificate his birthday is listed a week later. According to his mother, his birth wasn’t registered until a week later (he was born at home in Pakistan). By the time it was registered they couldn’t use the actual birthday. Long story.
He gets annoyed at me calling official birthday his “fake” one. I don’t really see why he’s complaining, this year he got four birthday celebrations and I finally made him rack of lamb on his “fake” birthday after five years of him nagging me to make him some (post coming soon). We had a small party for him with some of my parents’ friends and made a nice spread of some of his favorite foods, excluding the rack of lamb, which was to come a week later.
I ordered him a Passion fruit and Coconut cake from our favorite bakery in Rhode Island, Pastiche. Ordering a cake from Pastiche and then making your own dessert on the side is a self-inflicted set up for failure. If any of you know about Pastiche, their cakes, tarts, and all their desserts are gorgeous and the taste cannot be beat.
Regardless of the odds racked up against my dessert, I proceeded to make something pink, tied with a ribbon and bow for my husband’s birthday. I think he’s confident enough in his masculinity to have such a frilly cake on his birthday. Last year, I made him a cheesecake inspired by Pastiche’s vanilla bean cheesecake and it was slightly on the girly side too.
When the desserts were served, people obviously adored the Pastiche cake, but they also loved my homemade dessert as well. I was pleased to hear people saying it looked so professional. I totally faked it and this dessert looks way more difficult to make than it actually is. Ladyfingers filled with whipped mascarpone and topped with berries looks like you went all out, but it really was not all that hard. Do try it, it’s a lovely summer dessert that feels light when it really is not. A complete fake out!
Raspberry and Whipped Mascarpone Cream Charlotte
inspired and adapted heavily from Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours (Rasberry and Cream Charlotte) This one uses a custard, which I did not make.
serves 8-10
Ingredients
28-30 ladyfinger cookies, available in Italian shops or bakeries (or make your own)
2-3 pints fresh raspberries
juice and zest of 2 limes
16 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened
1 pint heavy cream or whipping cream
up to 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
2 teapoons pure vanilla extract
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Method
First prepare the mascarpone cream. In a blender, purée the raspberries with the lime juice and 2 tablespoons of superfine sugar. Once puréed, strain the seeds out through a wire wesh strainer and set aside.
In a large bowl using a whisk or electric mixer whip the cream with 1/4 cup superfine sugar and vanilla extract until it forms whipped cream, it should be fluffy and light. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the charlotte.
Next, with a rubber spatula, fold in the softened mascarpone cheese. Make sure you are gentle as to not deflate the whipped cream. Once combined, fold in the raspberry purée gently and toss in the lime zest. Taste the mascarpone cream and add additional sugar, if necessary.
The somewhat tricky part is next. Take a 9 inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Line the ladyfingers up around the perimeter of your pan, to see how many you need to line the outside of the pan, I needed 24. Next, using a sharp serated knife, cut each ladyfinger to 3 inches in length. Reserve the end pieces as support for the ladyfingers.
Once all the ladyfiners are cut, line them up so the rounded edge is on top and the sugared side is facing out. Take the little pieces that you cut off from the lady fingers and prop them against the bottom of the ladyfingers all the way around the inside of the pan, as to provide support. With the remaining whole ladyfingers, lay them on the bottom of the pan so the bottom area is fully covered.*
Next, fill the cream in the pan and smooth over the top. Arrange the remaining pint or 2 of raspberries depending on how “full” you want the fruit portion to be, in any pattern you wish. But make sure the bottoms of the raspberries are pointed upwards for a more polished look. You may garnish with any other berries you like. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Remove the springform portion of the pan carefully and tie the ladyfingers with a ribbon for aesthetic reasons as well as for support. When serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar for garnish.
*Feel free to email me with any questions regarding the set-up of the lady fingers.
Ha Ha Ha..You know men have some problem with the word “fake” 😉 This looks so fab, cant wait to try this ..I have 3 pints of raspberries sitting in the fridge.Love all that china & cutlery.The lightning in the last picture is beautiful! And yes belated wishes to your hubster!
Wow this actually seems like something I can attempt, maybe its your recipe writing skills that just make it seem so. Your photos were always great but over the last couple of posts, the pics are looking really nice and vibrant.. Secret photography lessons? :p Hope your hubby enjoyed the double deserts for his B-day and the 4(!) celebrations.
Fantastic as always and looks yummy!
looks soo pretty…I can see you used all of mom’s kitchen tools lol. Seems so easy as well
[…] Raspberry and Whipped Mascarpone Cream Charlotte […]
The whole birthday confusion thing runs rampant in my family as well. My dad doesn’t even know what his real birthday is because his mom had no idea either.
What a beautiful cake! Stunning, really. I could easily see something like this in a Paris bakery.
I can relate to your desire to make a cake yourself for your husband; there is something intensely personal and emotional about a homemade cake and I would not have touched a store-bought cake, no matter how fancy and exquisite. This cake is the most special, plus it has got flavors I adore: cream and berries~
This is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful photos!
This is so lovely. And the perfect story to go along with it. Hope you had a wonderful celebration!
Beautiful! Raspberry Charlotte is my cousin’s favorite dessert and she would always request one for her birthday.
This cake was just too beautiful and delicious!!!
The spread looks sensational, colourful and vibrant. The photographs are jaw dropping.
Great work!!
That dessert looks pretty and delcious!
its beautiful though i didnt get how u arrange dthe lady fingers bit, do u have any pics showing that . i luv anything sweet that has berries and some sort of cheese , so perfect fo the summer and happy fake and real bday to our man in question lol
oh wow! this is just beautiful!
oh boy.. 4 birthday celebration !!! he is one lucky man .. for that treat i don’t mind having a ‘fake’ birthday too 🙂
This cake looks delicious and you added mascarpone .. my fav 🙂
This looks beautiful! A Charlotte is such a lovely dessert! And I love that ribbon.
That’s just a wonderful creation. I’m so manly, I could eat like four slices. OK, seriously, what should you make a guy an armadillo cake? We like our raspberries too.:)
Wow a stunning dessert! I love how you tied the ribbon around it too. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing your creativity and love with me. I am leaving with such a wide smile on my face. I hope you are having a joy-filled weekend. Much love from Austin!
Beautiful! I ‘m always scared of putting my dessert next to bakery once and yet I always end up doing it. Its like a challenge I give myself 🙂 Belated wishes to your husband
How beautiful!!! I’m really not much of a baker but isn’t as difficult as it looks. And must serve with that bow right?
Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments-loved them all. 🙂
This is just stunning! I want to make one for myself and eat it all. This is probably the only time in my life that I will be justified in doing just that 🙂
I just came across your blog, while looking for someone who reposted one of my posts on this recipe! Your recipe looks delicious! The table setting looks so elegant.
Please visit my post on this same recipe, I think you’ll enjoy it!
http://oceanbreezesandcountrysneezes.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweetraspberries-and-cream-charlotte.html
gorgeous! gorgeous gorgeous