Why it works: Wine and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,260 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Tipsy Charlotte
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cake
Cut the bottom and sides of the sponge cake to make it stand evenly in a glass fruit dish.
Make deep gashes in the cake with a sharp knife.
Pour the wine over the cake and let it soak.
Finish and serve
Blanch, peel, and slice the almonds lengthwise.
Stick the sliced almonds all over the top of the cake.
Pour the boiled custard over the entire cake.
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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Wine + almondtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,260 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sponge cake
- Forms the soft base that soaks up the wine and holds the custard.
- Wine
- Soaks into the cake, adding moisture and a fruity, tangy flavour.
- Sweet almonds
- Add a crunchy, nutty contrast to the soft cake and custard.
- Boiled custard
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy layer over the soaked cake.
The step that matters
Pour the wine over the cake and let it soak. The cake must absorb the wine evenly. Cuts made beforehand let the liquid reach the centre, while a dry or uneven cake stays patchy and may not hold the custard well.
“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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