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
Soak the gelatine in cold water until soft.
Add the hot cream and sugar to the gelatine.
Place the bowl in ice water and stir constantly until it thickens.
Add the sherry and pour slowly over the whipped cream.
Assemble and chill
Trim the lady fingers and place them around the sides of a mold, crust side facing in.
Fill the mold with the mixture and chill thoroughly.
Turn out onto a glass dish to serve.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sherry + creamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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 turned out.
- Whipped cream
- Adds lightness and moisture, giving the filling a airy, creamy texture.
- Scalded cream
- Forms the rich base of the custard filling and carries its flavour.
- Lady fingers
- Form the structural shell around the sides of the mold.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the filling and dissolves easily into the warm cream.
The step that matters
Stirring the gelatine mixture over ice water. Gelatine sets as the mixture cools, so it must be stirred constantly to cool it evenly and thicken it smoothly. If left still, it can set in lumps or unevenly, and the filling may then fold poorly into the whipped cream.
“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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