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Dessert

Charlotte Russe

A custard dessert set in a sponge cake-lined mold, thickened with isinglass and folded with whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 ↓

Charlotte Russe

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Heat 1 pint of milk with the yolks of 6 eggs and ½ pound of sugar until thickened.

  2. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

  3. Dissolve 1 ounce of isinglass in 2 cups of milk and strain into the custard.

  4. Let the mixture cool until it begins to thicken.

Assemble and set

  1. Gradually fold in 1 pint of whipped heavy cream.

  2. Line a mold with strips of sponge cake.

  3. Pour the mixture into it.

  4. Chill until set.

Serve

  1. Turn out to serve.

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

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

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

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

  4. Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

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

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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness as they set with heat.
Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the custard so it holds its shape when chilled.
Heavy cream
Whipped into the custard to add lightness, body and a creamy texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps balance the richness of the yolks and cream.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard that the yolks thicken.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool until it begins to thicken. Folding the cream into a custard that is still too warm will deflate the whipped cream and thin the mixture. Waiting until it just starts to thicken keeps the foam intact so the set dessert stays light.

“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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