Name: Strawberry-Lemon Charlotte Russe with thyme Ladyfingers
Yield: Serves 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract; Scant ¼ tsp baking powder; ⅔ cup [90 g] all-purpose flour; Scant ¼ tsp table salt; 4 tsp fresh thyme leaves, plus more for sprinkling; 3 cups [720 ml] heavy cream; ½ cup [60 g] confectioners’ sugar; 1 tsp lemon extract; 7 Tbsp [105 g] granulated sugar; 4 cups [455 g] strawberries, sliced; 4 eggs, separated; 3 Tbsp limoncello, optional; 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice; Confectioners’ sugar for dusting; Scant ½ tsp cream of tartar

Preparation info

Serves
16

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Vintage Baker

By Jessie Sheehan

Published 2018

About

A Charlotte Russe, made by layering sponge cake, ladyfingers, or cookies with a creamy filling, and often stabilized with gelatin, is akin to a trifle or an icebox cake. The one updated here from the New Royal Cook Book (1922) is simplicity itself: “Sponge cake or lady fingers...to be fill[ed] with whipped cream and serve[d] cold.” I unpacked the instructions a bit, and have called for homemade thyme ladyfingers and a boozy filling of lemon whipped cr