Wednesday, August 13, 2008

charlotte and a birthday



Today is my sister-in-law's (Vanessa) birthday! I have been trying to find any excuse to make a cake for the last few months, and my opportunity finally arrived. This recipe, in particular, caught my eye quite awhile back so I knew that now was the perfect time to try it out- warm summer months, beautiful berries, and just light enough to REALLY enjoy. If you aren't familiar with Charlottes, they have a foundation of a sponge cake which is then soaked in a syrup (fresh strawberry here) and then topped off with a light strawberry mousse, and decorated with lady fingers around the edges and more fruit! Since St. George has very slim pickings as far as specialty items, I figured the lady fingers would have to be made from scratch...but I didn't mind..just more of an adventure! I tried to be super sneaky all day yesterday while I baked the lady fingers, but I ended up getting caught...multiple times. Luckily, I am usually up to some kind of cookery in the kitchen so it wasn't completely out of character for me, although I am a terrible liar so she probably had me figured out from the beginning (I think she was probably too nice to call me out on it...surprises are always so much more fun). I tried to make a pink-ish, almond type of biscuit instead of the lady fingers, but that ended up in disaster so I opted for the more traditional lady fingers. They were much more simple and resulted in a yummy pillow-like cookie. Lady fingers are basically just a basic sponge cake that have been piped out on parchment to bake and then sprinkled with a little powdered sugar. They are SO soft and plush like pillows, with just the right amount of sweet- not too sugary at all. Since I tried to be sneaky (which ultimately failed again...this is why I just don't lie anymore..I can never get away with anything :) and baked them at 10pm last night, I wasn't exactly fully awake and didn't even think to measure the cookies as I piped them out onto the parchment. That's why my Charlotte has very uneven edges. Next time, however, I will know better and measure my lady fingers! As you can see, I am a real amateur when it comes to decorating and baking, but I intend to improve my skills at least a little over this next year..I guess we'll see how that goes. I thought it looked pretty cute and taste really good...perfectly light for a hot day like today. If you click on the picture above, it should enlarge the image and give you a better picture of the actual cake. Happy Birthday, Vanessa!!

**Oops! I forgot the link to the recipe. The recipe for the lady fingers and the sponge cake were from Birthday Cakes by Kathryn Kleinman.

1 love notes:

Mrs. JM said...

Seriously awesome! Where's the link to the recipe :0). You're amazing. WE viewed it as a family last night at Linda's (even your mom and Grandma were able to see your lovely creation). Way to go Sarah!