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Dessert

Charlotte Russe

A chilled custard dessert with sponge cake layers soaked in sherry, folded with beaten egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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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

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in enough water to cover it.

  2. Make a custard by heating milk, egg yolks, and sugar until thickened.

  3. Stir in the dissolved gelatine and mix well.

  4. Remove from heat and add vanilla and sherry wine to taste.

  5. Let the mixture cool, then fold in the beaten egg whites.

Assemble and serve

  1. Dip sponge cake slices in a mixture of sherry wine, sugar, and water to moisten.

  2. Line the moulds with the moistened sponge cake.

  3. Fill the moulds with the custard mixture and set aside to firm up.

  4. Turn out onto a dish to serve.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together506 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

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

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

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

Milk
Forms the base of the custard, giving it body and a soft, creamy texture.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard when heated and add richness and a smooth set.
Egg whites
Beaten and folded in to lighten the mixture and give it a airy texture.
Gelatine
Sets the custard so it holds its shape when turned out of the mould.
Sponge cake
Lines the moulds, giving structure and absorbing the sherry syrup for moisture.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool before folding in the egg whites. If the custard is still hot, the beaten egg whites deflate and lose the air that makes the dessert light. Cooling to lukewarm first keeps the foam intact while the gelatine begins to thicken.

“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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