Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Improvised blueberry charlotte

I have a little of all the key ingredients leftover from previous dessert experiments. They are not enough to make another cake or tart, but too precious to waste. So a blueberry charlotte is created out of no recipe. Which is the beauty of charlotte, since no cooking is involved. You just mix and match what you can find in your pantry or fridge and voilah! A satisfactory conclusion to a great dinner.

My improvised blueberry charlotte
Serves two

A handful of blueberries
2 tablespoon good quality berry jam (I used mixed berry jam)
100ml fresh cream
Sponge biscuits
1 spoon icing sugar (castor sugar will do too)
a few drops of vanilla essence

Remembering that these are mostly leftover ingredients, the quantity is not really precise and that important. Just use what you can find.

Mix the blueberries with jam over low fire for a few quick minutes, so that the jam softens and you kind of get a thick coulis. Leave to cool.

Whipped the cream with sugar and vanilla essence until it becomes creamy. To get perfect whipped cream, keep your mixing bowl and beater sticks in the freezer for 15 minutes before you start to whip it. And the cream is ready when it leaves a trail. Overwhipping it makes the cream becomes butter and buttermilk (which means it is not really wasted, just make it into butter for your breakfast).

Arrange the sponge biscuits together in the way you like in a dessert glass or bowl. Crush some small pieces to line the bottom of the glass. Spoon the whipped cream, followed by a spoon of the berry mixture. Put a few small pieces of biscuits, followed by another spoon of whipped cream. Topped with berry mixture.

If you like the sponge biscuits to be soft like cake, make a quick syrup out of jam and dip each biscuits briefly in the syrup before using them.

Leave in the fridge for about 4 hours before serving.

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