Strawberry Ricotta Charlotte

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Strawberry fields forever.

I don’t know why, but whenever I see this many strawberries I cannot help but think about the song. As I hear Lennon’s dreamy voice, I can see myself walking down fields of strawberries, stretching to infinity. Picking as many strawberries as my basket can hold, tasting the juiciest and sweetest along the way.

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Well, not quite there yet with my hanging baskets! But our real, sun-bathed berries taste just like in my strawberry field dream, as sweet as candy and no trace of red 40. Just like the traditional shortcake, strawberry charlotte makes a perfect dessert on a warm summery evening. I lined a springform pan with ladyfingers moistened with kirsch-flavoured syrup, added a layer of sliced strawberries and cream, repeated with another ladyfinger-strawberries-cream layer to finish with ladyfingers. For a lighter dessert, I decided to use ricotta cheese sweetened with honey instead of making the rich, traditional custard filling. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did!!!

Ingredients for 6-8 servings:

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup honey

1 pound strawberries

24 (2 packages) large ladyfingers (Pick the largest ladyfingers!!!)

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

¼ cup kirsch

1. Rinse and slice the strawberries.

2. In a bowl mix the ricotta with honey using a fork.

3. In a small saucepan bring sugar and water to a boil over medium heat.

4. Remove from heat and add the liqueur.

5. Dip the ladyfingers in the warm syrup to moisten.

6. Line the bottom and the sides of a springform pan with one layer of ladyfingers.

7. Layer half of the cheese mixture on the ladyfingers.

8. Layer half of the strawberries on the cheese.

9. Add a second layer of moistened ladyfingers.

10. Layer with the rest of the cheese and the strawberries.

11. Cover with the last layer of moistened ladyfingers, making sure that the sugared side faces up.

12. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hrs.