Strawberry Charlotte is a light and tasty Italian-style dessert made of ricotta, ladyfingers and delicious strawberries. It is easy to make and beautiful to serve on any party or celebration. Read on to find out how to make this delicious dessert at home!
What kind of dessert is that
The world Charlotte means a dessert made of cookies or bread placed in a mould and filled with some kind of frosting or custard inside. A charlotte made with ladyfingers (a.k.a. Charlotte Russe) is a beautiful cake which can be prepared in different variations.
The current Strawberry Charlotte is filled with a delicious mix of cream cheese, whipped cream and ricotta combined with fresh strawberries and a hint of orange. It is easy to make, light and satisfying.
How to make this cake
This cake is unlikely to challenge anyone as it is quite easy and straight forward. You just need a round spring-form pan, a box of ladyfingers, ingredients for the filling and little time.
The first important step is to gently cook the strawberries for few seconds in a lightly sweetened water. This will help the cake stay fresh longer in the fridge.
The water from the strawberries is then mixed with orange juice and used to soak the ladyfingers in it. That creates a strawberry-orange taste around the whole cake.
The rest is preparing the filling, arranging the soaked ladyfingers around the sides of the pan and layering filling, strawberries and more ladyfingers inside the pan.
You will find the detailed steps below the post, in the recipe card!
How to decorate the cake
The best decoration is to pipe the last layer of frosting on top of the cake so it looks pretty. You can also arrange slices of fresh strawberries.
Where is the recipe from
The recipe was adapted by a wonderful desserts cookbook which I bought in Italy: Torte, Biscotti e Dolcezze di Nonna Lucia or "Cakes, Cookies and Desserts by Granny Lucia".
I changed few things in it, one of which was to cook the strawberries. This step can be skipped if you don't plan to keep your charlotte for more than a day or two in the fridge. If you cook the strawberries, it would last about 3 days or even 4.
Can you freeze this cake
This particular Charlotte cake can be frozen since it doesn't contain gelatine. Beware that the strawberries might release water after being thawed so the consistency might not be perfect.
Avoid freezing desserts containing gelatine, though.
If you make this dessert, you will enjoy a very light cake with wonderful taste and enchanting flavours! And one more good thing about this Strawberry Charlotte cake recipe is that it doesn't take much time to prepare!
Certainly this fresh fruit charlotte cake is one of the best desserts to make with strawberries! Let me know in the comments if you liked this dessert! If you made it, Please share your experience!
Want more strawberry desserts? Check out the below selection:
š Recipe
Easy Strawberry Charlotte
Ingredients
- 14 oz/ 400 g fresh strawberries
- Ā½ cup/ 120 ml water
- Ā¼ cup/ 50 g sugar
- Ā½ cup/ 50 g powdered sugar
- 24 ladyfingers, approximately
- ā cup/ 200 g whipping cream
- 1 cup/ 250 g ricotta
- 6 oz/ 175 g cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- juice from 1 orange
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries and keep aside 2-3 to use for decoration later. Finely slice all the rest.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat combine water and sugar. When the water starts simmering, put some strawberry slices in the pan (about a handful). Let them cook for 2 minutes before taking them out with a skimmer. Repeat the procedure until all the strawberries are cooked.
- Remove from heat the pan with the remaining liquid and let cool for 15 minutes. Add the orange juice to the sweet strawberry sauce and stir. This liquid will be used to soak the ladyfingers in it.
- In a large bowl whip the cream until hard peaks form.
- In another large bowl combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, ricotta and vanilla. Beat at a high speed until smooth and fluffy. With a rubber spatula fold the whipped cream into the mixture.
- Line the bottom of a 18-20 cm (7-8 inch) springform pan with a circle of baking paper.
- Trim some of the ladyfingers to become about as long as the pan height. Quickly dip the trimmed ladyfingers in the strawberry-orange liquid and line them up side by side around the inside edge of the pan. Arrange a layer of soaked ladyfingers on the bottom of the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut them appropriately in order to fit tightly.
- Spread evenly half of the strawberry slices over the layer of ladyfingers. Spread about half of the frosting on top. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top them with the rest of the strawberries. Spoon or pipe the remaining frosting over the friuts. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Before serving decorate with fresh strawberries.
Notes
- Keep the leftovers of the Strawberry Charlotte about 3 days in the fridge, covered with cling film or aluminium foil.
- You can make this dessert with fresh strawberries and skip the cooking part. In this case it will last 24 to 48 hours.
Cynthia says
This cake is wonderful, I make it all the time with homemade lady fingers from your link. Iām not seeing the link anymore, how can I find that lady finger recipe? Thanks!
Daniela Lambova says
Thank you, Cynthia! But I don't remember having a link for a ladyfinger recipe in the post. I certainly don't have such recipe in the blog yet but maybe it is time to create one š
Karly says
Love!! This reminds me of spring! Bring it on!
Daniela says
Thanks Karly! Indeed it's spring vibes in every bite! š