Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Mini Ice-Cream Charlottes

I really like the name "Charlotte", I think it's so pretty.  Nobody really knows why charlottes are called charlottes.  It could be named after a Queen Charlotte, or, according to Wikipedia, it could come from the world "charlyt" which means a bowl of custard.  I hope it's the latter, because that means that the name Charlotte is based on the dessert rather than the other way around.  Can you imagine?

"What does your name mean?"

"It is the latinized version of a Greek name.  It means chaste and purity  "

"Mine means 'cheerful' and 'joy' in Hebrew." 

"Mine means a bowl of custard."
 



So what are charlottes, exactly.  It's essentially just a dessert with bread or sponge fingers as the outer layer encasing the filling, custard or ice cream, inside. 

This is easy peasy, you just need sponge fingers, a soaking liquid of choice, ice cream and cook rings.  You can also use your own molds with cardboard. I used coffee as the soaking liquid, I just think it gives a nice bitter contrast to the sweet filling.  I filled it with a mixture of chocolate ice cream and rum and raisin ice cream.  You should also top it off with something crunchy for more textural contrast.


Ingredients
Savoiardi/lady fingers/sponge fingers
Good quality espresso
Ice cream
Candied fruits

Method
Pour the espresso into a wide bowl and allow it to chill.  

Place your moulds on a tray and line the inside with cling film, so that your charlottes are encased in the cling film. 

Cut the lady fingers in half, or adjust length depending on the height of your molds.  Dip them in the cooled coffee and line the inside of the ring with them. 

Fill with ice cream of choice and put in the freezer to firm up.  When ready to serve, just carefully slip them out of the ring, remove the cling film, and decorate with some candied fruits or nuts on top.

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