Unlike last week's simple and delicious recipe (Oeufs à la Neige (Snow Eggs with Caramel and Crème Anglaise), this one has five components, which equals a pile of dishes!

The ladyfingers are simple, and this time I followed the directions and sprinkled the confectioner's sugar on the piped fingers instead of stirring it into the batter like last time. For the fingers, you just whip the egg whites, fold in the yolks and then fold in the flour. Pipe, sprinkle with icing sugar and bake at 350°F until golden.

Why do the French like their pears so much? I've never been overly fond of this fruit and find it mealy. They do improve with poaching, however. Halve the pears and poach in water (to cover), sugar and vanilla. When they're soft, let them cool, then purée half the pears and dice the other half.

My favorite part of this dessert is the Crème Anglaise. The way some people can eat raw cookie dough (which I can't), I could eat a whole saucepan of Crème Anglaise. But, adding the softened gelatin and water mixture to the custard kind of spoils it for me. Jello and custard aren't a good marriage, in my opinion.

Then, after whipping the cream (with too much liqueur, which I chose to leave out this time), fold it into the Bavarian cream (Crème Anglaise and gelatin mixture).

Finally, purée the raspberries, strain the seeds (if you want), and whisk in the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice.

And after all that, you then have to wait 4-5 hours for the Bavarian to set!

Bavarois is a dessert that's thickened with gelatin and lightened with whipped cream.
-Thip from Bonbini

Charlotte aux Poires, Coulis de Framboise (Pear Charlotte with Raspberry Coulis)

Serves 6


Ladyfingers
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup cake flour
Confectioner's sugar, sifted
Unsalted butter, softened for baking sheet

Pear Bavarian Cream
1 pound pears
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 ounce powdered gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons cold water

Crème Anglaise
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar

Whipped Cream
1/4 cup Poire William or domestic pear brandy (I ended up leaving this out)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Raspberry Coulis
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon, strained

You can find the recipe for Charlotte aux Poires, Coulis de Framboise (Pear Carlotte with Raspberry Coulis) in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home.


Tasting Notes
If you like pears, you'll like this recipe. If you like jello, you'll like this recipe. I liked the ladyfingers and the Crème Anglaise so all was not wasted. And you can't go wrong with raspberry coulis, but it's a very strong taste that likes to overpower the subtle taste of pear.

More Charlottes
• Whisk: Charlotte aux Pommes, Crème Anglaise au Rhum (Apple Charlotte with Rum-Flavored Crème Anglaise)
• Whisk: Charlotte Malakoff (Almond Cream Charlotte)
• Whisk: Charlotte aux pommes, crème anglaise au Calvados (Apple Charlotte served with Calvados custard sauce)
• Bonbini: Charlotte Royale
• La Cerise: Charlotte and Biscuits à la Cuillère (Ladyfingers)
• Happy Home Baking: Tiramisu Charlotte Cake

More Bavarois
• Whisk: Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis)
• Whisk: Bavarois à la Fraise (Strawberry Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Coulis)

Next Time
Crème d’amande (Almond cream) in Almond-Filled Basque Cake page 253

::Whisk Whenever::
I'm baking my way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, I try to find a suitable substitution.

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