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Dessert

Rich Charlotte

A molded dessert of cooked rice in milk, sweetened with sugar and vanilla, layered with whipped cream and preserves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Rich Charlotte

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rice

  1. Blanch the rice.

  2. Boil it in the milk with sugar and vanilla until soft.

  3. Let the rice cool.

Assemble the charlotte

  1. Mix it with the whipped cream.

  2. Oil a mold.

  3. Fill it with alternating layers of rice and preserves or marmalade.

  4. Let it stand until stiff.

  5. Turn it out.

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. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  5. Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,352 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Rice
Forms the bulk of the pudding and sets firm as it cools and stands.
Milk
Cooks with the rice to make it soft and creamy.
Whipped cream
Adds richness and a light, airy texture to the rice.
Sugar
Sweetens the rice pudding.
Preserves or marmalade
Adds fruity sweetness and flavor between the rice layers.

The step that matters

Let it stand until stiff. The cream and rice need time to chill and firm up so the charlotte holds its shape when turned out. Turning it out too soon can cause it to collapse.

“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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