Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 filling
Dissolve the gelatine in the boiling milk.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Whip the cream until frothy.
Mix the gelatine, sugar, and whipped cream, then add the egg whites.
Assemble and chill
Line a mold with slices of spongecake.
Put a layer of jelly over the cake.
Cover with the cream mixture and chill in the ice until ready to serve.
For extra flavor, add wine and double the amount of gelatine.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Milk + winetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,116 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (fenugreek, curry).
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 cream mixture so it holds its shape when chilled and sliced.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a foam that lightens the filling's texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, and whipping it adds airiness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling.
- Spongecake
- Forms the soft outer lining that holds the filling in the mold.
The step that matters
Dissolve the gelatine fully. Gelatine sets as it cools, so it must be completely liquid when mixed into the cream. Undissolved specks cause uneven, rubbery patches in the set filling.
“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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