Spring Fruit Charlotte Recipes

SPRING FRUIT CHARLOTTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Zest lemon and set aside.
• Juice lemon and measure out 1 tablespoons.
• In a bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, pie filling, lemon juice, and cinnamon.
• Mix gently.
• Reserve 1 cup of fruit mixture and pour remainder into an 8 x 12 inch oval baking dish, mounding slightly in center.
• In a 1 quart bowl, blend pudding mix, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and egg with a whisk.
• Cut crusts off bread with a serrated knife.
• Dip each bread slice quickly into egg mixture on each side to coat lightly.
• Arrange slices in overlapping circular pattern around edges of dish, on top of fruit, leaving center open.
• Pour any remaining egg mixture over bread.
• Spoon reserved fruit mixture into center opening.
• Bake 23 to 30 minutes, or until edges of bread are a deep golden brown.
• Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar (use a shaker or put in a sieve and shake it over).
• Sprinkle lemon zest over top.
• Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
• NOTE: Three large fresh peaches (1 1/4 lbs.), pitted and cut into 1-inch pieces can be substituted for canned peaches.

CHARLOTTE WITH DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Place all fruit in a 3-quart saucepan. Add cider and sugar, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until fruit is tender and mixture has thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Remove crusts from bread. Cut slices to fit tightly in bottom of a 6- to 8-cup straight-sided ovenproof mold, like a charlotte mold or soufflé dish. Cut enough half-slices to fit around sides of mold, slightly overlapping. You should also have enough bread left to cover top.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat 1/4 cup butter in a skillet. Lightly sauté bread pieces for bottom of mold on both sides until golden. Place in mold. Add more butter and continue sautéing bread pieces for sides and fit them into mold. Pile fruit into bread-lined mold, pressing it in tightly. Brush bread for top of mold with remaining butter and put in place.
• Bake 15 minutes until top is well browned. Allow to cool 30 minutes, run a knife around outside, turn upside down onto a serving dish and unmold. Serve with crème fraîche. Charlotte can be frozen in its baking dish, thawed and baked at 300 degrees for 25 minutes to reheat before serving. It can also be frozen, unbaked, brought to room temperature and baked before serving.

FRUITY SUMMER CHARLOTTE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tumble ¾ of the berries into a medium baking dish. Whizz the remainder of the berries in a food processor to make a purée, then stir this into the dish along with 2 tbsp sugar.
• Spread the loaf slices with butter, then cut into triangles. Cover the top of the fruit with the bread slices, then scatter with the rest of the sugar. Cover with foil, bake for 10 mins, uncover the dish, then bake for 5 mins more until the fruit is starting to bubble and the bread is toasty. Serve with dollops of crème fraîche or fromage frais.

SPRING FRUIT TRIFLE

Steps:

• Break wafers coarsely into 2-1/2-quart clear glass serving bowl. Sprinkle with liqueur; top with layers of fruit.
• Pour milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Refrigerate until pudding starts to thicken. Add chocolate; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spoon over fruit; top with the remaining whipped topping.
• Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours before serving. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.