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Charlotte Russe, with Pineapple

A chilled pineapple custard set in a sponge cake-lined mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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, with Pineapple

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pineapple base

  1. In a stew-pan, combine the pineapple slices, sugar, gelatine, and water.

  2. Stew the mixture until the pineapple is tender.

  3. Rub the mixture through a sieve and place it on ice, stirring well.

Set and mould

  1. When it is about to set, fold in the whipped cream.

  2. Pour the mixture into a mold lined with sponge cake or prepared as desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,841 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Pineapple + creamtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,574 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pineapple
Provides the main flavour and, once stewed and sieved, the body of the filling.
Gelatine
Sets the pineapple mixture so it holds its shape when turned out or cut.
Cream
Adds lightness and a soft, airy texture when whipped and folded in.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and balances the acidity of the pineapple.

The step that matters

Folding in the whipped cream as the mixture begins to set. If the base is still too warm, the cream will deflate and melt into it; if it has set too firmly, the cream will not blend in evenly. Chilling on ice while stirring brings it to a point where it thickens but stays pourable, so the foam holds its air.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Raspberryfits better
  4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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