Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Charlotte Russe
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a saucepan until near boiling.
Stir in the egg yolks and cornstarch until slightly thickened.
Sweeten and flavor the mixture to taste.
Assemble and bake
Layer sponge cake slices in a dish and pour the pudding over them.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and spread them on top.
Place the dish in a 400°F (200°C) oven and warm slightly.
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.
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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).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that sets around the cake.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness and structure as they set with heat.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the custard so it holds its shape when served.
- Sponge cake slices
- Form the base layer that soaks up the custard and gives the dish structure.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a stiff foam that forms the light topping and lightens the dish.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolks and cornstarch. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently, but overheating can scramble them into lumps. Cornstarch needs heat to swell and thicken. Stir steadily and keep the custard below a hard boil so it thickens smoothly.
“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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