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Dessert

Charlotte Russe

A molded dessert made of thin batter strips fitted around a custard and gelatine cream filling with beaten egg whites and rich cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 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

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Bake the sponge

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, cream of tartar, and baking soda.

  3. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and add boiling water to the mixture.

  4. Combine the two mixtures and fold in the beaten egg whites.

  5. Spread the batter thinly on biscuit tins and cut into strips.

  6. Fit the strips into oval molds.

Make the filling and set

  1. Soak the gelatine in cold water for at least an hour.

  2. Dissolve the gelatine in a vessel set in hot water.

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

  4. Once cool, add the dissolved gelatine, wine, and remaining sugar.

  5. Fold in the beaten egg whites and rich cream, then flavor with vanilla.

  6. Chill until set, preferably on ice.

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

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

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

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

  4. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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

Eggs
Egg whites trap air for a light structure, while yolks enrich the custard and batter.
Flour
Forms the structure of the sponge that holds the strips in shape.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid filling so the dessert holds its shape when chilled.
Baking soda
Reacts with cream of tartar to release gas that helps the batter rise.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the batter, stabilizing the mixture and helping it rise with baking soda.
Rich cream
Adds richness and a soft, creamy texture to the set filling.

The step that matters

Fold in the beaten egg whites and rich cream. Fold gently after the gelatine mixture has cooled. Warm liquid deflates the whites, while gelatine that is already setting will form lumps instead of blending smoothly.

“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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