Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Charlotte Russe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Beat egg whites until stiff.
Gradually add sugar while continuing to beat.
Add marmalade and Sherry wine.
Serve
Serve chilled.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sherrytop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sherry + winetop 32% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together0 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Beaten into a foam, they trap air and give the dessert its light, airy structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dish and, dissolved into the whites, helps stabilize the foam.
- Marmalade
- Adds sweetness, fruity acidity and flavor that balances the egg whites.
- Sherry wine
- Adds aromatic depth and a fruity, nutty flavor to the mixture.
The step that matters
Gradually add sugar while beating. Adding the sugar slowly while beating lets it dissolve into the whites, which stabilizes the foam. Adding it all at once can deflate the foam and keep the whites from becoming stiff.
“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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