Raspberry-Pistachio Charlotte Recipe

Pink sponge fingers (makes ~10)

• 1 egg, separated
• 50g vanilla sugar
• 45g plain flour
• 23g cornflour
• 2.5g organic baking powder
• red food colouring
• icing sugar

Filling and garnish:

• 100 cl custard (ready to serve)
• 20g pistachio praline
• 20g icing sugar
• 1 punnet raspberries
• 1 bunch fresh mint
• 20g caster sugar
• 30g golden syrup at 30°C

Pink sponge fingers
- In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Beat until the mixture begins to turn white.
- Add half of the egg whites and continue to beat.
- Incorporate a few drops of food colouring and the rest of the egg whites. Beat until the mixture is well blended.
- In a separate bowl, combine the plain flour, cornflour and baking powder.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the egg-sugar mixture, and gently fold in using a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
- Place a large piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag and pipe in straight lines on the prepared parchment paper. Let sit for 15-30 minutes to harden.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Dust the slightly hardened mixture with icing sugar and bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool.
- Trim the edges of the cooled biscuits so they are uniform in shape, which will make the charlottes easier to assemble.

Pistachio cream
- Grind the pistachio praline to a paste.
- In a mixing container, beat together the custard, pistachio paste and icing sugar until the mixture is well blended. Using a hand blender will produce a lighter texture.
- Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag.

Raspberry sauce
- Using a fork, roughly crush a third of the raspberries.
- Snip in 3 mint leaves.
- Add the caster sugar and stir well.

To serve
- Place a sponge finger on a flat plate and pipe a large dollop of pistachio cream on the biscuit.
- Gently top with a second sponge finger and pipe 4 smaller dollops on top. Place a whole raspberry and mint leaf on each dollop.
- Repeat for the other 3 plates.
- Garnish each plate with dollops of raspberry sauce and golden syrup.

Enjoy!

The first choice of our wine expert is a white PDO Vin de Paille from the Jura region: a mellow Arbois Vin de Paille 2011 from Domaine Tissot. This is a generous wine made from grape bunches that are dried on straw (paille in French). Strong and sweet, yet with a delightful freshness due to its geographic origin, it will enhance this exquisite dessert.

The second suggestion is an AOP Bugey Cerdon sparkling rosé, Méthode Ancestrale 2015 from the Domaine Raphaël Bartucci located between Jura and Savoie – a lovely pétillant redolent of red fruits and with fine bubbles that will elevate the flavour of the raspberries. Its lightness makes this sparkling wine the ideal accompaniment for this summery dessert, both of which should be enjoyed in the shade of an arbour.

Chef Olivier Sébastien – Le Garage