I have no clue what this means? I have seen this cake twice in the fruit cake gallery. I want to make one but I don't know what type of cake this is or what icing to use? And what are those cookies that around it???? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am considering do this for a birthday next weekend.

I made one using gegon's recipe...

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1962-Charlota---Charlotte.html

There's some more info about them here...

http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/how_to/food_dictionary/entry?id=1801

http://cakefun.blogspot.com/2005/05/charlottes-on-web.html

HTH

CHARLOTTA (CYPRIOT TRIFLE WITH PRESERVED FRUITS)
by Paul Hollywood
Sponge cake, scented with rose water is complemented with rich almond cream and syrupy preserved fruit, in Paul Hollywood's version of a classic Cypriot trifle
For the sponge
3 eggs
115g caster sugar
140g plain flour
pinch Salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the trifle
100g whole almonds
2 litres Milk
1 large egg
70g caster sugar
110g cornflour
For soaking the sponge
4 tbsp Milk
3 tbsp rose water
3 tbsp Cognac
380g canned fruit, (drained weight), syrup retained from the can
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4, and butter and flour a 35 x 24cm ovenproof dish.
2. To make the sponge, whip the eggs and sugar together for about 10 minutes, until thick and creamy.
3. Sieve the flour and salt and gently fold into the egg mixture along with the vanilla extract. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 20 minutes, until firm to the touch. When a skewer is poked into the centre of the cake, it should come out clean.
4. Turn the sponge out of its dish onto a wire rack. When cooled, halve the sponge horizontally through the middle. Leave on one side.
5. Tip the almonds into an electric blender, and pulse into coarse pieces. Set aside about 4 tablespoons of the almonds and continue processing the remainder until they are finely chopped.
6. In a small frying pan, toast the reserved coarsely chopped almonds over a medium heat until they are a pale golden colour. Set aside.
7. Place most of the milk into a saucepan, reserving 100ml in a mixing bowl. Bring to the boil and remove from the heat.
8. While the milk is heating, whisk together the egg and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the cornflour to the cold milk, stirring until smooth. Whisk this cornflour mixture into the whipped egg and sugar.
9. Add the hot milk, a ladleful at a time, to the egg mixture, whisking to prevent curdling. Transfer this mixture back into the milk pan and place on a gentle heat, stirring continuously until it begins to thicken.
10. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of the rose water and the finely chopped almonds.
11. Leave to cool for a few minutes at this stage, the almond cream will still be quite thin, but it will thicken further as it cools.
12. Place the bottom layer of the sponge in a trifle dish.
13. For the soaking liquid, mix 4 tablespoons of milk with the rose water and cognac. Brush half this liquid over the sponge. Scatter the soaked sponge with half the preserved fruit, and drizzle with the reserved syrup from the can.
14. Pour over half of the cooled almond cream, spreading it evenly over the sponge.
15. Arrange another layer of sponge on top of the almond cream, and brush with the rest of the soaking liquid. Spoon one more layer of preserved fruit over the top and drizzle with fruit syrup.
16. Spread the remaining almond cream on top of the fruit. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and leave and chill for a 2-3 hours before serving.