Currant Charlotte

Prepare all the ingredients for the currant charlotte. I used black currants, as they are the most fragrant and vibrant. However, you can also make the charlotte with red or white currants. Frozen berries can also be used. The currants are small, so there is no need to thaw them beforehand. They will quickly melt in the dough during baking, and this way less juice will come out of them. It is best to use room temperature eggs. Of course, the charlotte will turn out great with cold eggs as well, but in sponge cake type doughs, such as our charlotte, warm eggs are beaten much easier, and the sponge cake itself rises slightly higher than with cold eggs. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. It should be well heated before we put the charlotte form in it.

Prepare the dough for the currant charlotte. Crack the eggs into a deep clean bowl. Add sugar and vanilla sugar.

Beat the eggs with sugar using a mixer. The mass should increase in volume 2.5 times, become fluffy, slightly dense, and lighter in color. Pay attention to the bowl and beaters! They should be perfectly clean, without a drop of fat or water. If fat gets into the bowl or onto the beaters, it will be much more difficult to beat the eggs.

Reduce the mixer speed to the minimum. Mix the flour with the baking powder, and gradually add it to the dough while continuing to beat the eggs. Take your time. Add the flour gradually. It should be well distributed throughout the egg mixture, but they should not settle. If you pour the flour too quickly or use a high mixer speed, the mass will settle, and the baked goods will turn out flat with a pronounced eggy taste.

Prepare a baking form for the currant charlotte. I used a 19 cm diameter and 7 cm height cake form, but you can use any available form. The size of the form will affect the height of the charlotte, and may slightly alter the baking time. Grease the form with a small amount of butter. If you are using a detachable form, you can simply line the bottom with parchment paper and grease only the sides. Pour the prepared batter into the baking form and level it across the entire surface of the form. Rinse the currants, remove the stems and leaves, and spread them evenly over the batter.

Place the charlotte form in the oven. It's best to bake it in the middle of the oven using the Top-Bottom mode at a temperature of 180 degrees. The baking time is approximately 35-40 minutes, depending on the size of your form and the power of your oven. You can check the doneness of the charlotte using a wooden toothpick. It should come out dry and without any lumps of batter from the middle of the charlotte. Remove the finished currant charlotte from the oven.

Carefully remove the charlotte from the form and let it cool completely.

You can serve the currant charlotte as is or dusted with powdered sugar, drizzled with chocolate or any other sweet sauce. It also pairs well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The currant charlotte is ready. Enjoy your meal!