Charlotte Russe

This is the first of my Family Thanksgiving Favorites I'll be sharing over the next week!  It is our traditional Thanksgiving dessert.  What?  No pumpkin pie?  No pie at all at our house!  This fluffy, custardy yumminess beats pie any day in my book!  It's a tiny bit complicated to make but totally worth the effort!!

Charlotte Russe

2 envelopes of gelatin

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups milk (scalded)

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs, separated

2 cups whipping cream

1 package lady fingers

In a double boiler combine the gelatin, sugar and salt.  If you don't have a double boiler you can make one.  Simply get two pots and place the larger one on top of the smaller.  Fill the bottom pot with 1-2 inches of water and boil.  The heat from the boiling water will be enough to cook your mixture without overcooking it.

Scald your milk.  Scalded milk is basically milk that has just reached  boiling point.  You can use a thermometer if you want.  I didn't.  Just watch it very closely and stir stir stir!  You don't want it to burn and it can go from scalded to burnt very quickly.  As soon as you start to see bubbles take it off the heat and add it to your gelatin mixture.

Stir in the hot milk and then slowly add your beaten egg yolks.  Make sure you are stirring constantly.

Cook while stirring until your mixture coats the spoon.  If you've never cooked with an egg custard before you might not be familiar with the term "coats the spoon".  You want to be able to dip a spoon in the mixture and have it stick to it.  The easiest way to check is to dip your soon in and then draw a line down the back of the spoon with your finger.  If the mixture runs into the line you need to keep cooking. If the lines stay pretty solid you can move on to the next step.

Take the mixture off of the heat and cool.  Add your vanilla.

Refrigerate until the mixture mounds slightly.  This means that when you stir the mixture it gloops up a little bit.  Don't let it get too thick in the fridge.

While the mixture is cooling in the fridge beat your egg white and your cream in 2 separate bowls.  After you take it out first fold in the eggs whites and then fold in the cream.

To serve, line your bowl with lady fingers.  Alternate layers of the custard and lady fingers until you've used all of the custard.  Refrigerate until a few minutes before serving.

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There you have it.  This is heavenly.  We seriously argue at our house each year about who gets seconds.  It is so light and fluffy and creamy and wonderful!!  It is sweet without being too sweet and tastes like a lighter version of a pudding.  It is definitely worth all of the extra effort!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!  Come back tomorrow for another family favorite!