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 cream and custard
Whip the cream to stiff peaks and drain it well using a sieve.
Beat the eggs lightly in a separate bowl and mix with the milk, sugar, and vanilla.
Cook the mixture over hot water until it thickens into a custard.
Add the gelatine
Soak the gelatine in a small amount of water, then warm it over hot water until melted.
Once the custard is cool, gently fold in the gelatine and whipped cream.
Line, fill and set
Line the bottom of a mold with buttered paper and the sides with sponge cake or lady-fingers secured with egg white.
Pour the cream mixture into the mold and refrigerate or place on ice until set.
Unmold
To unmold, briefly dip the mold in hot water.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Vanilla + sugartop 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).
Vanilla and sugar 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 to stiff peaks, it gives the dessert its light, airy, creamy texture.
- Eggs
- Thicken the milk mixture into a custard as they cook, giving body and richness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding creaminess and softness.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream mixture so the charlotte holds its shape when unmolded.
- Sponge cake or lady-fingers
- Form the outer lining that gives the dessert structure and a soft, cake-like edge.
The step that matters
Folding in the gelatine and whipped cream after the custard cools. If the custard is still warm, the whipped cream will deflate and melted gelatine can set unevenly, so cooling first keeps the mixture light and smooth.
“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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