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
Prepare the cream
Whip the cream until frothy while chilling it on ice.
Make the custard
Soak the gelatine in milk and heat it on the back of the stove until fully dissolved.
Beat the eggs well, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar and the dissolved gelatine.
Add the brandy and mix well.
Combine and chill
Pour the mixture into the whipped cream while continuously whipping.
Transfer the mixture into two large molds and chill it in the ice or a cool place.
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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Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Heavy cream
- Whipped to a light foam that gives the dessert its airy, creamy body.
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture as it cools so it holds its shape when unmolded.
- Eggs
- Beaten to enrich the mixture and add body and richness.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and dissolves smoothly into the beaten eggs.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour to the dessert.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture into the whipped cream while continuously whipping. Keeping the cream whipping while adding the gelatine mixture helps distribute it evenly and prevents it from setting in streaks or lumps before the cream is fully combined.
“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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