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 ↓
Another Charlotte Russe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cream base
Whip the cream stiff in a large bowl or dish; set on ice.
Boil the milk and pour gradually over the gelatine until dissolved, then strain.
When nearly cold, add the whipped cream, a spoonful at a time.
Sweeten with powdered sugar, flavor with extract of vanilla.
Line a dish with lady-fingers or sponge cake; pour in cream and set in a cool place to harden.
Make the custard
Make a rule of white sponge cake; bake in narrow shallow pans.
Make a custard of the yolks after this recipe.
Wet a saucepan with cold water to prevent the milk that will be scalded in it from burning. Pour out the water and put in a quart of milk, boil and partly cool.
Beat up the yolks of six eggs and add three ounces of sugar and a saltspoonful of salt; mix thoroughly and add the lukewarm milk.
Stir and pour the custard into a porcelain or double saucepan and stir while on the range until of the consistency of cream; do not allow it to boil, as that would curdle it; strain, and when almost cold add two teaspoonfuls of vanilla.
Assemble and set
Arrange your cake (cut into inch slices) around the sides and on the bottom of a glass dish, then pour over the custard.
If you wish a meringue on the top, beat up the whites of four eggs with four tablespoonfuls of sugar; flavor with lemon or vanilla, spread over the top and brown slightly in the oven.
Put some thin slices of sponge cake in the bottom of a glass sauce dish; pour in wine enough to soak it.
Beat up the whites of three eggs until very light; add to it three tablespoonfuls of finely powdered sugar, a glass of sweet wine and one pint of thick sweet cream; beat it well and pour over the cake.
Set it in a cold place until served.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 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 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
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.
-
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Milk + creamtop 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Thick sweet cream
- Whipped to a light foam that gives the dessert its rich, airy body.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard, and whites lighten the meringue and topping.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the custard and the set cream layer.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard, meringue and cream.
- Sponge cake (in the method)
- Provides a soft structure that soaks up the custard and wine.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard without boiling. Egg yolks thicken as they warm, but if the custard boils the proteins curdle and it turns grainy. Stir over gentle heat only until it coats a spoon, then strain.
“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.
More charlotte russe recipes
You might also like
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.