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
Prepare the moulds
Cut stale sponge cake into slices about half an inch thick and line three moulds with them, leaving a space of half an inch between each slice. Set the moulds where they will not be disturbed until the filling is ready.
Take a deep tin pan and fill about one-third full of either snow or pounded ice, and into this set another pan that will hold at least four quarts.
Make the cream filling
Into a deep bowl or pail (a whip churn is better) put one and a half pints of cream (if the cream is thick take one pint of cream and a half pint of milk) and whip to a froth.
When the bowl is full, skim the froth into the pan which is set on the ice, and repeat until the cream is all froth.
Then with a spoon draw the froth to one side, and you will find that some of the cream has gone back to milk; turn this into the bowl again and whip as before.
When the cream is all whipped, stir into it two thirds cup powdered sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, and half a box of gelatin which has been soaked in cold water enough to cover it for one hour, and then dissolved in boiling water enough to dissolve it (about half a cup full).
Stir from the bottom of the pan until it begins to grow stiff.
Set and serve
Fill the moulds and set them on the ice in the pan for one hour, or until they are set.
When ready to serve, loosen lightly at the sides and turn out on a flat dish.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Cream
- Whipped into a froth, it forms the airy body of the filling.
- Gelatin (in the method)
- Sets the whipped cream so the charlotte holds its shape when turned out.
- Sponge cake (in the method)
- Forms the outer lining of the moulds and gives the dessert its structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cream filling.
The step that matters
Keep the cream ice cold while whipping. Cold cream holds air bubbles better and whips to a stable froth, while warm cream collapses and turns back to liquid, so the filling will not set properly.
“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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