Here it is, in all its pretentiousness - the dang Charlotte Royale. I completely scratched off the idea of making banana bavarian cream because, in all honesty, I just couldn’t be bothered to do it. Right now I’m somewhat glad I didn’t submit this as an entry for the food challenge. There was a setback when the cake came out too dry and was virtually un-rollable - I ended up with a triangular swiss roll instead of a nice round one. But that kerfuffle aside, I think this turned out pretty well. It doesn’t look as pretty as a Charlotte Royale should, but it tasted good, especially when flooded with the caramel sauce. Be warned though, this is not a dessert made for one (at least, not the one in this post). Even a small one should be shared between 2, at the very least. 

Chocolate Swiss Roll (Cake recipe from AllHealthyRecipes)

- Cake

[1 cup flour + 1/2 cup sugar + 3 eggs + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 4 teaspoon cocoa powder]

- Filling:

[1 cup heavy cream, whipped + 2 bananas]

Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and sieve it into a bowl.

Beat sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix until combined.

Spread the mixture in a greased or lined sheet cake pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C.

Meanwhile, place a clean tea towel on a work surface, cover with baking paper. 

When the cake is cooked, place it on the baking paper and roll the cake up from the short side - rolling the paper inside the cake.

Stand the rolled cake on a wire rack for 5 mins, then carefully unroll & allow the cake to cool to room temperature before spreading the whipped cream on top.

Lay the bananas along one side of the cake and roll the cake. 

Keep the rollcake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before slicing to assemble.

Banana Mousse:

[2 tablespoon orange juice + 2 teaspoon gelatine or agar powder + 2 bananas + 1 cup heavy cream + 1 tablespoon sugar]

Dissolve the gelatine or agar powder in the orange juice. 

Puree the bananas and add the gelatine-OJ mixture and puree again until smooth.

Whip the cream with sugar until stiff. Fold in the banana mixture.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before assembly.

Assembly:

Fetch a mold - you can use any sort of round-bottomed bowl or even squared ones.

Cover it with a layer of cling-film, leaving tags to pull out later.

Lay the swiss-roll slices into the mold, pressing gently. Arrange them as close as you can, minimizing the gaps in between.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Spoon the mousse into the mould and place more swiss-roll slices on top of the mousse to seal the whole thing.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour

** I used a bowl with a 10cm diameter. If you’re using a larger mould, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours).

When the time has lapsed, simply up-end the mold, loosen the plastic from around the sides and lift it off.

Peel back the plastic wrap and set the charlotte aside while you make the caramel sauce.

Caramel sauce:

[2 1/2 tablespoon sugar + 1/4 cup heavy cream]

Heat the sugar over medium-high heat until it caramelizes. 

Turn the heat to low and whisk in the heavy cream. Keep whisking until the caramel melts back into the sauce.

Serve the charlotte on its own or with the caramel sauce.

Enjoy!