Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Charlotte Russe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine
Soak the gelatine in cold water for a few minutes, then dissolve it in ¼ cup of boiling water.
Make the cream
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla.
Gradually mix in the dissolved gelatine while the cream is in a bowl set in ice water.
Assemble and set
Line a mold with lady fingers, then pour the whipped cream mixture into the mold.
Refrigerate until the cream is set.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sherry + creamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Whips into a light foam that gives the dessert its airy, creamy body.
- Gelatine
- Sets the whipped cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Lady fingers
- Form the lining of the mold and add a soft, absorbent sponge structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cream and dissolves easily into it without graininess.
The step that matters
Gradually mix in the dissolved gelatine. Gelatine that is added all at once or while the cream is warm can set in lumps or deflate the whipped cream. Cooling the cream in ice water and adding the gelatine slowly keeps it smooth and evenly set.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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