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Dessert

Charlotte Russe

A gelatin-based dessert made with sweet milk, heavy cream, egg whites, and sponge cake.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Charlotte Russe

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard base

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in 1 cup of heated sweet milk, but do not boil.

  2. Strain the mixture through muslin.

  3. Add 1 cup of heavy cream.

  4. Beat 4 egg whites with 4 tablespoons of milk until stiff.

  5. Combine the stiff egg whites with the gelatine mixture.

  6. Flavor to taste.

Assemble and set

  1. Line a mold with sponge cake.

  2. Pour the mixture into the mold.

  3. Refrigerate until set.

Ice and finish

  1. Beat 3 egg whites with 3 tablespoons of sugar until stiff.

  2. Ice over the dessert.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Gelatine
Sets the liquid mixture into a sliceable, firm structure when chilled.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff foam, they lighten the filling and give it an airy texture.
Heavy cream
Adds fat for a rich, smooth mouthfeel and a softer texture in the set dessert.
Sponge cake
Lines the mold to give the dessert a light, soft base and outer layer.

The step that matters

Combining the stiff egg whites with the gelatine mixture. Gelatine begins to set as it cools, so if the mixture is too cold or too thick, the whites will not fold in evenly and the foam will deflate. Fold gently and work while the gelatine is still loose.

“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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