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Dessert

Charlotte Busse

A chilled cream dessert made with sponge cake, egg yolks, whites, sugar, milk, cream, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 Busse

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the custard base

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in the milk.

  2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until well combined.

  3. Strain the dissolved isinglass into the yolk mixture.

Add the cream and whites

  1. Whip the cream until frothy.

  2. Beat the egg whites until frothy.

  3. Add the whipped cream and egg whites.

  4. Mix lightly.

  5. Flavor with vanilla.

  6. Chill until slightly thickened.

Mold and freeze

  1. Line the molds with sponge cake.

  2. Pour in the cream mixture.

  3. Freeze for 5 to 6 hours.

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. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Isinglass
Sets the mixture as it cools, giving the charlotte a firm, sliceable body.
Egg yolks
Enrich the custard with richness and help bind it into a smooth base.
Egg whites
Whipped to foam, they lighten the mixture and give it an airy texture.
Cream
Whipped to add fat and volume, giving a soft, creamy texture.
Sponge cake
Lines the molds, providing a light, absorbent base around the cream.

The step that matters

Add the whipped cream and egg whites. Whipped foams deflate if overmixed or added to a mixture that is too warm. Mix lightly and chill until just thickened so the cream and whites keep their air and the set stays light.

“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.

More charlotte recipes

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