Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 cream
Take one quart of thin cream, sweeten and flavor.
Whip the cream until frothy.
Take half a box of gelatin, soak in as little cold water as possible.
Set gelatin on stove to melt.
Let gelatin cool before adding to cream.
Line and set
Have a dish lined with cake or ladyfingers.
Pour the cream into the dish and set on ice until ready for use.
Make the rich cream filling
Take one quart of rich cream.
Add three tablespoons of Madeira wine.
Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth.
Add one tea-cup of powdered sugar.
Dissolve half a box of gelatin in half a cup of sweet milk.
Flavor with vanilla.
Beat the cream and wine together.
Add the eggs, then the sugar, and finally the gelatin.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + teatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together738 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Thin cream
- Forms the light, liquid base that sets into a creamy body.
- Rich cream
- Adds fat for a thick, smooth, creamy texture.
- Eggs
- Whipped whites add foam and lightness to the filling.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the filling and dissolves easily into the cream.
The step that matters
Let gelatin cool before adding to cream. Hot gelatin can deflate the whipped cream and eggs and cause uneven setting, so it should cool slightly before being folded in.
“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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