if you have people coming round for dinner...
and want a simple and easy pudding with no cooking involved, this one is perfect!. The only thing is you need to do it a day in advance. So not one for a last minute gathering, but for that you can try my chocolate and frangipanne tart which takes very little cooking, or even pain perdu, even quicker (just glam it up by serving it with a scoop of very very nice ice cream like Carte dOr caramel et beurre salé, my favourite!). it's called Charlotte, not sure why actually? if you know, please share your knowledge with me, please 
anyway, my mum used to make it quite often with different filling depending on the season. Berries and whipped cream in summer, chocolate mousse and pears and even chestnut purée and whipped cream around Christmas. She even had a special Tupperware dish to make it in, one which made it easy to take the charlotte out of it by lifting a little lid on the top. I use a glass bowl lined with clean film, works the same.
although summer has long gone (well actually November has been much nicer than July so you can pretend) this recipe is for the summery version using berries.
You'll need:
1 pack of lady fingers
250 g of fresh or frozen berries, (tongiht I used a pack of mixed red summer fruits- frozen- )
200ml of raspberry or strawberry coulis
1 pint of single cream
4 gelatine leaves
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
on y va:
Defrost your berries if necessary
Lined your glass bowl with cling film leaving an extra couple of inches hanging out all the way round
mix your fruit coulis with a few tablespoons of water to thin it a bit
dip your lady fingers in the coulis one by one, making sure tey are well coated
place a coupld of halved lady fingers at the bottom of the bowl
Carry on placing more lady fingers aroudn the bowl standing up
fill in any holes with bits of fingers
whip your cream to a mousse consistency
Soften the gelatine in a little water
Drain, mix with a little bit of the cream in a separate glass bowl
warm the gelatine and the cream over a pan of boiling water until all the gelatine is disolved
Mix with the rest of the cream
Add the sugar to your berries and toss them round
Mix the berries with the cream
Spoon enough mixture in the middle of the lady fingers to fill half of the bowl
Dip more lady fingers in coulis and place on top of the cream
pour the rest of the cream and berries mixture on top stopping only 1 cm from the top of the bowl (it is important to fill your dish to the top so it set properly when you add a weight on it)
Dip more lady fingers in the fruit coulis and completely cover the top of the cream layer
the top of your pudding should be slightly higher than the top of the bowl you have used
bring the cling film back on top of the charlotte
put a small place upside down on top of the charlotte
place in the fridge with a weight on it (a pint of milk for example) and leave to set overnight
To serve just remove the plate, unwrap the bottom of the Charlotte and tip on a large plate
Pull gently on the cling film to remove from the glass bowl
Peel and discard the cling film
