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Dessert

Economical Charlotte Russe

A custard-based dessert with stale cake, whipped egg whites, and chocolate cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Economical Charlotte Russe

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard base

  1. Prepare a quart of mock custard.

  2. Pour the custard into a large glass dish filled with stale cake pieces.

  3. Stir gently.

  4. Beat the egg whites with sugar until stiff.

  5. Spread the stiff egg whites over the top of the custard.

  6. Refrigerate until cold.

Make the cream

  1. Boil 1½ cups of milk for the cream.

  2. In a bowl, mix ½ cup sugar, cornstarch, grated chocolate, 1 egg, ½ cup milk, and a pinch of salt.

  3. Pour the mixture into the boiling milk.

  4. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.

  5. Once cooled, pour the cream over the cake just before serving.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Stale cake
Soaks up the custard and sets into a soft, spoonable base.
Egg whites
Whipped with sugar to form a stiff, airy topping over the custard.
Egg
Thickens the chocolate cream as it cooks with the milk.
Cornstarch
Thickens the cream by swelling in hot milk to a smooth consistency.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and color to the cream.

The step that matters

Simmer the cream after adding the egg mixture. The egg and cornstarch must be heated to thicken the cream smoothly. Stirring constantly while it simmers helps prevent lumps and keeps the egg from curdling.

“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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