Chocolate Raspberry Charlotte Cake

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day~
I made this mini Charlotte cake for hubby’s and my early V-day celebration. He ate a piece the day I made it, then somehow devoured the rest of it the next day! Haha how I wish I could pack it away as well as he can! At least I got to taste test it in order to tell you guys it was really good!
It’s a fairly simple recipe. May look like a lot of steps but it’s not complicated and can be done as quickly as a good old cheesecake.

So there you are.
Happy day of love, everyone. What are you all up to this long weekend?

P.S. Giveaway going on here.

Chocolate Raspberry Charlotte Cake
Makes two 3-inch mini cakes

Ladyfingers:

2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
7 large egg whites
2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
6 large egg yolks

Chocolate Mousse:

2 Tbsp cocoa powder
5 Tbsp hot water
7 oz milk chocolate, chopped roughly
1.5 cups heavy cream
1 Tbsp sugar
6 oz. raspberries, plus extra for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Prep two pans lined with parchment paper. On your parchment paper, use a pencil and ruler to draw two 3×13 inch rectangles and 2 circles, tracing the bottom of your mini spring form pans. Flip over the parchment paper so that the pencil is face down.

For the Ladyfingers:

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they become foamy. Then gradually add sugar while still beating. Stop when stiff peaks form.

In a medium bowl beat together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale in color, about 3 minutes. Fold the yolks into the meringue. Then fold in the flour in 2 additions.

Pour your batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe half inch ladyfingers horizontally in your rectangle guides so that they touch. If desired, sprinkle lightly with cocoa powder. In the circles, start in the middle and then make a spiral until the circle is filled. Bake for 15-18 minutes until they spring back when you touch them. Let cool completely.

For the Mousse:

Combine the cocoa powder and hot water and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

To melt your chocolate, fill a small saucepan with an inch of water. Place it over high heat and bring it to a simmer. Put your chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and place it on top of your saucepan. Stir it while it melts until it is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside while you make your whipped cream.

Pour the heavy cream into a large clean bowl. Beat until it starts to form up. Then gradually add the sugar while still beating, and beat until stiff peaks.

Add your cocoa powder mixture to the chocolate and whisk. Then add 1/3 of your whipped cream to the chocolate and whisk to combine. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream.

To Assemble:

Line the sides of your spring form pans with parchment paper so that your ladyfingers won’t stick.

Choose the side of your ladyfinger rectangle that you want to be the bottom of your cake, and use a sharp knife to cut about a half inch off so that it will lay flat. Then fit it into the sides of the pans, cutting the edges to fit, if needed. Take the circles and fit them into the bottom of the pans, again trimming if needed.

Fill the insides with about an inch of mousse. Push your raspberries into the mousse, squeezing in as many as you can. Then fill the rest of the way with mousse, leaving about a half-inch space from the top of your ladyfingers. Refrigerate until set (at least 4 hours), or freeze for about 2 hours then refrigerate leftovers. Garnish with extra raspberries before serving.

Ladyfinger recipe from Martha Stewart. Mousse recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated via Brown-Eyed Baker.