Chocolate/Apricot Charlotte-esque Dessert

Honestly, I didn't know what on earth to call this-I'm open to suggestions.

Last Christmas, my Mother-in-law gave me a set of four beautiful antique silver moulds. They're stamped France, but beyond that I don't know much about them. This was the first time I used them and well, just look at how beautifully dessert turned out.

The recipe for the filling makes quite a bit-it freezes well as is, or can be churned in an ice cream maker if you want something lighter. You could also serve it alone as a sort of mousse. Or, just get a spoon and a big bowl and make yourself comfortable.

It looks complicated, but really isn't. You'll need time for each stage to set, but otherwise the actual recipes are a breeze.

Ladyfinger recipe HERE.

For The Filling:

2 cups whole milk
2 squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

4 cups whipped cream
1/3 cup sugar

1 cup apricot preserves, melted and strained of solid fruit
3 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, melted

In a saucepan, mix together the chocolate, sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk. Place over medium heat and continue whisking until it comes to a boil. Cook one minute longer still whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Cover with clingwrap, chill.

When custard mixture is cooled, whip the cream and add the sugar. Place about half the whipped cream in a bowl with the custard mixture and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until quite light. Fold in the rest. Chill.

While the mixture chills, prepare the ladyfingers for the moulds. Line your moulds bottom and sides with waxed paper. How you cut the ladyfingers will depend on the shape of your moulds-mine needed to be sligtly trimmed at the bottom. You want a tightly fitting layer of triangles at the bottom and sides that are fairly close. Make sure the rounded side of the ladyfinger is facing outward. When they are secured in place, brush generously with melted preserves. Chill fifteen minutes to set. Remove from fridge and spread with melted chocolate over the preserves. This will chill hard and keep the filling from leaking, so use it to fill any gaps you may see in your ladyfingers. Chill again for fifteen minutes. Fill with chocolate mousse and then use remaining bits of cut ladyfingers to top the moulds. Cover and chill several hours or overnight before serving.

They invert easily onto a plate and I didn't have any difficulty removing the strips of waxed paper.