When it is moulded on the dish, completely cover it with an even coat, half inch thick, of very firm “pastry cream” (No. [2401]), and take care not to spoil the shape of the Charlotte.
Sprinkle the cream copiously with icing sugar; then, with a red-hot iron, criss-cross the Charlotte regularly all round; pressing the iron upon the sugar-sprinkled cream.
Surround the base of the Charlotte with a row of beads made [721] ]by means of the piping-bag, from the same cream as that already used.
[2438—VARIOUS CHARLOTTES]
Charlottes may be made with pears, peaches, apricots, &c., after the same procedure as that directed under No. [2436]. The most important point to be remembered in their preparation is that the stewed fruit used should be very stiff; otherwise it so softens the shell of bread that the Charlotte collapses as soon as it is turned out.
It is no less important that the mould should be as full as possible of the preparation used; for, as already explained, the latter settles in the cooking process.
[2439—CRÈME A LA RÉGENCE[!-- TN: acute invisible --]
Saturate half a pound of “Biscuits à
la Cuiller” with Maraschino-Kirsch, and then dip them into a quart of boiled milk. Rub them through a silk sieve, and add eight eggs, ten egg-yolks, two-thirds pound of powdered sugar and a small pinch of table salt. Pour the whole into a shallow, Charlotte mould, and set to poach in a [bain-marie] for about thirty-five minutes.
Let the mould rest for a few minutes; turn out its contents on a dish and surround the base of the cream with a crown of stewed half-apricots, each garnished with a preserved cherry. Coat the whole with an apricot syrup, flavoured with Kirsch and Maraschino.