Pear Charlotte
This classic French Charlotte aux Poires combines pear puree with whipped cream, set in ladyfingers soaked in pear liqueur. Perfect for a light and fruity dessert.
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving: Calories: 420 kcal, Fat: 22 g, Sodium: 120 mg, Carbohydrate: 45 g, Protein: 5 g
Descriptions
This Charlotte aux Poires is a refined, cold dessert that uses fresh or canned pears blended into a bavarian cream base. It’s layered with ladyfingers soaked in a pear-flavored syrup, offering a light and fruity dessert that’s elegant yet easy to prepare.
The recipe finishes with a beautiful arrangement of pear slices or Chantilly cream, and can be served with a tart raspberry coulis or rich chocolate sauce.
Directions
1- Prepare your workstation (5 minutes):
- Gather all ingredients and equipment.
- Chill the canned pears in the refrigerator.
2- Optional: Make the sponge cake base (20 minutes):
Prepare a standard genoise cake if you prefer a homemade base instead of ladyfingers.
3- Prepare the ladyfinger batter (20 minutes):
If not using pre-made ladyfingers, pipe your batter into a long strip for the sides, or use 24 trimmed ladyfingers.
4- Make the soaking syrup (5 minutes):
Mix water and sugar to create a syrup, and let it cool before adding pear liqueur.
5- Dice the pears (5 minutes):
Cut the canned pears into 1-inch cubes and soak them briefly in a little pear liqueur.
6- Prepare the bavarian cream (10 minutes):
- Soften gelatin in cold water.
- Blend chilled pears and syrup, keeping aside a small portion for dissolving the gelatin.
- Add lemon juice and pear liqueur to the mixture.
- Heat the reserved syrup to dissolve the gelatin, and mix it into the pear puree.
7- Whip the cream (10 minutes):
Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks, leaving it slightly under-whipped to ensure smoothness.
8- Complete the bavarian mixture (5 minutes):
Gently fold the whipped cream into the pear mixture until smooth.
9- Assemble the charlotte (10 minutes):
- Line the sides of a mold with ladyfingers, place the genoise or additional ladyfingers on the bottom.
- Brush the cake layers with the pear syrup.
- Pour in the bavarian cream, ensuring the pear cubes are evenly distributed.
10- Chill the charlotte (2-3 hours):
Cover the charlotte with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until fully set.
11- Decorate and serve (10 minutes):
- Top the charlotte with thin pear slices glazed with neutral jelly or powdered ladyfingers with sugar.
- Optionally, pipe Chantilly cream on top.
Note's
- For extra flavor, use pear eau-de-vie in both the syrup and the bavarian cream.
- To add texture, use poached fresh pears instead of canned.
- Serve with raspberry coulis or chocolate sauce to balance the flavors.
Ingredients
- Ladyfingers: 24 pieces (or make your own)
- Canned pears: 1 large can (about 8 halves)
- Heavy cream: 1 3/4 cups
- Gelatin: 8 sheets
- Sugar: 1/4 cup
- Water: 1/4 cup
- Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
- Pear liqueur: 3 tbsp
- Neutral jelly or powdered sugar for decoration
