This Berry Charlotte Cake is an impressive-looking dessert perfect for summer days. Though it may look fancy and difficult to make it is quite easy and requires no extra decoration as the ladyfingers do all the trick.
This Berry Charlotte Cake is a refreshing no-bake dessert featuring two layers of chocolate and berry mousse, crowned with ripe fresh berries. It’s not overly sweet, with just the right mix of ladyfingers, chocolate, and tangy berry flavor. It is for sure a delightful treat for any occasion!
How to make Berry Charlotte Cake
To begin, prepare the berry sauce so it has time to cool before making the mascarpone filling. Place the berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and sieve to remove seeds.
While the sauce is simmering, prepare the gelatin. Dissolve gelatin in cold water and let it swell for about 5-10 minutes. Place gelatin over low heat just until it dissolves, then pour it over the sieved berry sauce. Let the berry sauce cool at room temperature while you prepare the rest.
Line an 8-inch (20 cm) round springform pan with parchment paper. Line the edges and bottom of the pan with ladyfingers, cutting them where necessary to fill the gaps.
Now, prepare the chocolate and berry mousse fillings. Place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan with simmering water. Melt over low heat. Prepare the gelatin by dissolving it in cold water and letting it swell for about 5-10 minutes. Place gelatin over low heat just until it dissolves, then pour it over melted chocolate.
In a large mixing bowl, mix mascarpone with powdered sugar until combined. In another bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gradually incorporate whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Divide mascarpone mixture in two.
How to assemble the cake
Mix half of the mascarpone mixture with melted chocolate and pour it over the bottom of the pan. Add fresh raspberries or mixed berries on top. Refrigerate for about 15-30 minutes. Mix the other half of mascarpone mixture with berry mixture and pour it on top of the chocolate mousse. Refrigerate for about 6 hours or overnight until set.
Before serving, decorate with a ribbon, fresh berries, and mint leaves. Hope you will try it out and enjoy this delightful dessert! If you try it out, make sure to share the photos with me on Instagram. Would love to see how it turns out for you.
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Berry Charlotte Cake
Ingredients
- 23-25 ladyfingers
Berry Sauce
- 10 oz (300g) mixed berries , fresh or frozen
- 1/3 cup (70g) sugar
- 2 tbsp (30ml) lemon juice
- 2 ½ tsp (7g) gelatin powder
- 3 tbsp (45ml) cold water
Mascarpone Filling
- 1 pound (450g) mascarpone , room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup (400g) whipping cream , 35%fat
- 3 tbsp (24g) powdered sugar
For the chocolate Filling
- 5.5 oz (150g) semisweet chocolate
- 1/3 cup (80g) whipping cream
- 1 tsp (3g) gelatin powder
- 1 tbsp (15ml) water
Instructions
Prepare the berry sauce.
- Place the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat and sieve to remove seeds.
- While the sauce is preparing prepare the gelatin. Dissolve gelatin in cold water and let it swell for about 5-10 minutes.
- Place gelatin over low heat just until the gelatin dissolves and then pour it over sieved berry sauce. Let the berry sauce cool at room temperature while you prepare the rest.
- Line with parchment paper a 8 inch (20 cm) round springform pan.
- Line the edges and bottom of the pan with ladyfingers. Where necessary cut the ladyfingers to fill the gaps.
Prepare chocolate and berry mousse fillings.
- Place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan with simmering water. Melt over low heat.
- Prepare the gelatin. Dissolve gelatin in cold water and let it swell for about 5-10 minutes.
- Place gelatin over low heat just until the gelatin dissolves and then pour it over melted chocolate.
- In a large mixing bowl mix mascarpone with powdered sugar until combined. In another bowl whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gradually incorporate whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.
- Divide mascarpone mixture in two.
- Mix half of the mascarpone mixture with melted chocolate and pour it over the bottom of the pan. Add fresh raspberries or mixed berries on top. Refrigerate for about 15-30 minutes.
- Mix the other half of mascarpone mixture with berry mixture. Pour it on top of chocolate mousse.
- Refrigerate for about 6 hours or overnight until set.
- Before serving decorate with a ribbon, fresh berries and mint leaves.
Video
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @homecookingadventure on Instagram and hashtag it #homecookingadventure.
Hi there,
Where is the video and why did you not reply to question thru email? Are you really like this towards followers?
Sorry.. I probably didn't notice your email.. , we receive a lot of emails daily and I must say it's quite difficult to follow and answer each, while also have to prepare for the next recipes. Which was the question? thank you
YOU ARE AMAZING
I WILL BE MAKING THIS SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!
First, I want to say a warm HELLO! I don’t actually know where you guys are now, but I am from Romania. I wanted to ask this a long time ago only to find myself forgetting all the time. What instructions can you give on the cream that you use in your recipes. In Romania, for whipping we have cream made from Hydrogenated vegetable fats like margarine and I wanted to know if this is a good substitute or what is the best kind to get in order not to fail. I am always following you recipes , keep up with your work!!. Amazing, xoxox
Could I use Agar Powder? If so does the recipe/ration change?
Hi Nathaniel.
You can use Agar Powder and the recipe will remain the same.
Hi there
Is it ok to make this cake 2-3 days in advance, keeping it in the fridge until ready to serve?
Hi Abbie.
Yes, you can do this cake in advance and keep it in the fridge.
Hi Ella. I am a home baker from South Africa. After searching high and low for a Charlotte cake recipe, yours appealed to me the most, so I tried making it and I am very impressed, hence the five star rating. This cake is AMAZING!!!! The flavours are absolutely wonderful. I made it as a birthday cake for my son and EVERYBODY LOVED IT!! ….. It took me an hour and a half to make but once I put it on the table, my guests made a clean sweep in about 10 minutes!!! Now I’d like to try your other recipes as well. Keep up the good work!! Regards Liesl.
Thank you Liesl for your beautiful comment. Means a lot to me. I am really glad you tried this recipe.. we love it too. Happy Birthday to your son! Let me know if you try any other recipes. Cheers,Ella!
Hello – this cake looks amazing! I have a somewhat silly question. Could I make this without the ladyfingers all around? )just do the 2 layers of mousse?) Thank you!
Yes.. sure, you can leave the ladyfingers out and make 2 layers mousse cake. I also have some like this on my website.
Made it with strawberries instead of raspberries as they were the only fruit available that day. Still worked remarkably well. My husband absolutely loves it. Will definitely be making it again.
So happy to hear that Barbara:) Yes, any berries would work wonderful in this recipe.
Lovely recipe. I’m hoping I can replicate this one but I’d like to replace the chocolate mousse filling with a lemon curd mousse filling to make a fruitier version without chocolate. Can you please guide me with what I might need to do to create a lemon curd mousse? Any help on ingredient quantity/directions would be appreciated! Would it be simply replacing 150g of chocolate with 150g of lemon curd?
Yes.. a lemon mousse sounds like a great idea. I would add about 1 cup (240g) of lemon curd to half of Mascarpone mixture but I would use more gelatin, about 1/2 tbsp (5g) or even 2 tsp (6g) of gelatin mixed with the lemon curd. Let me know if you try it out.