Whines, Wines, and Cake: Charlotte Russe

TMIL heads back home today.  Just in time.  I honestly don't know how much more I could take.  You know what they say about fish and house guests?  Well we definitely passed the three day mark. 

It's really hard to share space.  TMIL is so critical that she will literally look for anything she can sink her negative hooks on to, which means I spend the entire time she's here playing cheerleader.  Everything's great!  Everything's perfect!  It's exhausting. 

Since TMIL loves her wine (in a rather unhealthy way given that her doctors have told her she needs to cut it out) we thought she would enjoy a trip to wine country.  We spent the afternoon sitting at a table enjoying wine and cheese while she complained that she only liked whites and they didn't have enough whites for her to drink (as she continued to steal sips of our reds and declare how good they were even though she doesn't like reds).  Then we came home and she refused to eat dinner because she already had cheese.  Good times.

I'm celebrating her departure, and celebrations mean cake.  Or something cake-like.  This was actually inspired by the purchase of a charlotte mold.  I love getting old baking tools - there's something so nostalgic about it.  And now I actually have the space to house them in my kitchen.  It's a dangerous place to be.

Do you know about charlottes?  They're a French baked dish which are filled sponge cakes.  Like a very fancy twinkie.  The Charlotte Russe is a sponge cake filled with bavarian cream.  It's one of those dishes that looks fancier than it actually is.  And perfect for any form of celebration, big or small.

 

Charlotte Russe

1 envelope gelatin

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1cup heavy cream

sponge cake

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water and let it soften for 5 minutes.
2. Mix the sugar and milk in a pan, add the gelatin , and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar and gelatin dissolve.  
3. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.  Chill until  thick and syrupy, then beat until fluffy.
4. Whip the cream into soft peaks and fold in the gelatin mixture.  
5. Line a 1 1/2 quart charlotte mold with 1/2 inch thick slices of sponge cake.
6. Spoon in the filling and chill until firm.  Unmold before serving.