Ingredients
Makes one rectangular sized cake pan
Serves 12 – 20
*use one of the below syrup choices for dipping ladyfinger
**this recipe is best made a day ahead
My syrup
150ml of Vine peach liquor
150ml of water
1.5 tbsp of Orange blossom flour water
or Traditional syrup
150ml of strawberry syrup (see below for homemade version)
75ml of rum
75ml water
1.5 tbsp of Orange blossom flour water
1 box of ladyfingers (400g or about 30 in qty)
1k of strawberries
270g of creme fraiche
20 cl of creme liquid
40 g of sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
Equipment
rectangular cake pan
saran wrap
toothpicks
Preparation
1- The key to making this dessert is getting all your ingredients prepared for assembly. I start with the syrup water for dipping. Whether you are doing my version or the traditional, add the ingredients to a shallow bowl that will make dipping your lady fingers easy. Set aside.
2- Slice your vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out your beans. Add them to a mixing bowl with your creme fraiche, heavy creme and sugar. Beat this on slow for a few minutes and then increasing to high speed until your creme is thick and stiff (see photos below.) Set aside. Honestly, skip the vanilla if you aren’t feeling it. It won’t make or break this. I’m a sucker for the black seeds showing up in the cream.
3- De-stem your strawberries and cut them up into small-medium sized cubes and put into a bowl. Save at least 10 whole strawberries for the top of the Charlotte.
4- Now you are ready to assemble. Start by dipping your ladyfingers in your syrup one by one and lining the bottom of your cake pan. You want your ladyfingers to be soaked through but not soaking. I do about 1.5 seconds on each side. I know… precise!
5- Once you have the first layer of ladyfingers, add half of your cream and mindfully spread it out. You don’t want to tear up your soaked ladyfingers.
6- Add in your layer of cut up strawberries, make sure to get them all in!
7- Do a final layer of soaked lady fingers. If you run out of syrup, you’ll have to make some more. This will be dependent on how long or shortly you soak your fingers.
8- Add on your remaining cream and mindfully spread it out to cover each corner. Cut the remaining 10 strawberries in lengthwise in half and lay them on your cake. I use these are serving size markers, one strawberry per serving size. You may also save this step for the following day when you actually serve it.
9- Use toothpicks as little towers on each corner of the Charlotte and a 4-6 in the center to hold the saran wrap above the cream. Allow to set in the fridge overnight. Pull it out about 30 minutes before serving.
*please see photos below for more detailed instructions and tips.
Step 1
Once it has cooled in the oven go ahead and take it out. Ideally you will be able to mindfully lift it from the parchment paper and transfer it to your flat cake plate but sometimes it cracks too much for this.
This one started cracking when I tried to move it so I slid it from the tray onto my serving plate (tray) and I cut around the parchment paper and left it as is.
While you allow your meringue to settle into the serving platter to cool completely make your whip cream. Make sure your bowl is clean, dry and deep enough.
When you start beating your cream on low it may fly out a bit so just be prepared or have a towel around the beater to act as a cover.
As the cream starts to thicken you may increase the speed slowly. After each increase, let it beat for 30s to 1min before increasing again.
When your cream starts to get pretty thick and make nice waves like this be on guard because it can easily "turn" and get lumpy - this is when it starts going into the stage of butter.
It does take some practice to beat the cream as far as it can go without reaching the point of no return. It should look like this and feel thick.
Once your meringue is completely cooled add on your freshly whipped cream.
Spread it out to the edges of your meringue.
I always sweeten my strawberries a touch. I do this at the last minute because the sugar breaks them down a bit. Make sure to fold them over themselves with a rubber spatula so that you don't smash them.
Add your strawberries. You could just keep them in the center like this, keep piling them on and let them "spill over" to give you a rustic look.
I chose to do an old fashioned style like my grandma would have done. Decorating around the platter. I love doing things in the kitchen that remind of people I love, like this.
I had gotten some edible flowers for this Pavlova so I added those too. My grandma would have never done this!
She really is a beauty!
It can be tricky cutting a Pavlova. By the end it's an ugly affair but it's part of it. I find that with a cake knife it works best. If you don't have one you can use a regular knife and a big spoon or spatula. Good luck!
I always ask each guest if they want some Strawberry Pineau sauce before I add it.
It looks less pretty that's for sure with the sauce on it but it's worth it.
