Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Charlotte Russe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Make a boiled custard of a pint of milk and four eggs, flavored with vanilla, make it very sweet, and set it away to cool.
Whip and combine
Put half an ounce of gelatin into a gill of hot milk; when dissolved, pour it into a quart of rich cream and whip to a froth.
When the custard is cold, stir in the cream gently.
Assemble and set
Line a mold with thin slices of sponge cake or sponge fingers.
Pour the mixture into the mold and set in a cool place.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 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
- Eggs (in the method)
- Thicken the milk into a custard base that gives the dessert body and richness.
- Gelatin
- Sets the cream mixture so it holds its shape when unmolded or sliced.
- Rich cream
- Whipped to a froth, it adds lightness and a creamy, fatty mouthfeel.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and dissolves the gelatin.
The step that matters
Stirring the cream into the custard. The custard must be fully cold and the cream folded in gently. Warm custard can melt the gelatin's set and hard stirring deflates the whipped cream, leaving a dense or weepy dessert.
“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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