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
Prepare the cake
Select a pan or mold of your desired size.
Bake sponge cake in thin layers according to the size of your mold.
Bake an additional thin cake large enough to cover the top.
Make the cream filling
Whip the cream until thick.
Dissolve the gelatine in warm milk on the back of the stove, then strain it.
Mix the sherry wine, sugar, and vanilla into the gelatine.
When the mixture is almost cold but not congealed, fold it into the whipped cream.
Sweeten more if desired.
Assemble and finish
Place the cover of the cake on top and refrigerate until firm.
Turn out the cake and cover with thin frosting.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sherry + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together506 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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
- Thick cream
- Whipped into airy volume that gives the filling its light, rich body.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid filling into a firm, sliceable structure when chilled.
- Sponge cake
- Forms the outer structure that holds the filling in the mold.
- Pale sherry wine
- Adds aroma and a subtle acidity that balances the sweetness of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the richness of the cream.
The step that matters
Folding the gelatine mixture into the cream. If the gelatine mixture is still warm, it will melt the whipped cream and deflate it; if it has already set, it will form lumps. It should be nearly cold but still liquid so it blends smoothly and holds the cream's air.
“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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