Countdown to Christmas Day 24: Charlotte Russe

Happy Christmas Eve! Today we spent time with my mom's side of the family. Since my family lives in KY and Randolph's family lives in SC it is not possible for us to spend every holiday with both of our families since we live in AL...the driving between these 3 states would be insane! So since we spent Thanksgiving with his family we are spending Christmas with my family. I wanted to do something special for Randolph since he wasn't going to see his family for Christmas and that was to make him one of the traditional desserts his family has every year...Charlotte Russe. His grandmother, Gana who just passed away in October, always made this dessert for his family every year at Christmas. This way he could be reminded of his family and I would be able to share a new dessert with my family that they had never had before since this is a southern dessert. Randolph has been enjoying this dessert on his mom's side of the family for as long as he can remember. I was able to taste it for the first time about 4 years ago when we spent Christmas with his family and it was really good!


The dessert starts off with some lady fingers....


Then it gets topped off with this gelatin, egg, sugar and whipping cream mixture.


Assembly of the Charlotte Russe...lady fingers + creamy mixture + cherry = YUM!


Garnish with some homemade whipped cream and a cherry on top!


Randolph trying a bite of my first attempt at making Charlotte Russe! I think I passed the test, it tasted really yummy and all of my family members really enjoyed it too!

Charlotte Russe

Ingredients

3 cups milk
1 quart whipping cream
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
10 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
4 tbsp gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon vanilla
lady fingers

• Soften the gelatin in a bowl with the water.
  
• Bring the milk to a boil.
• Combine egg yolks, sugar, salt and softened gelatin in a bowl. Pour milk overtop of mixture and stir like crazy (in the words of Randolph's Uncle Ted).
• Strain the mixture and cool.
• Beat egg whites until stiff and add to custard mixture.
• Beat whipping cream until stiff and fold into custard mixture.
• Place creamy mixture into fridge to chill for several hours.
• To serve, place a few lady fingers in a bowl, place a dollop of the cream mixture on top and then add a cherry!
• Makes enough for about 15 servings!
  

ENJOY!