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
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the cream and Madeira wine together until combined.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
Fold in the dissolved gelatin and vanilla extract.
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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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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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Rich cream
- Whipped with the wine, it provides the fat and body that give the charlotte its rich texture.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiff peaks, they trap air that lightens the mixture and gives it structure.
- Gelatine
- Dissolved and folded in, it sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and dissolves smoothly into the cream for a fine, even texture.
- Madeira wine
- Adds a rich, fortified wine aroma and flavour to the cream.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites are full of trapped air. Stirring vigorously knocks that air out and the charlotte turns dense instead of light and airy.
“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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