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 gelatine and eggs
Whip the cream until light.
Dissolve the gelatine in hot milk and let it cool.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Make the cream mixture
Mix the whipped cream, powdered sugar, and egg whites together.
Gently fold in the dissolved gelatine.
Assemble and chill
Line a dish with slices of sponge cake or ladyfingers.
Pour the cream mixture into the lined dish.
Set the dish on ice to cool.
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 + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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 trap air, giving the dessert a light, airy body.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiff foam, adding lightness and volume to the filling.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the filling and dissolves easily into the cream mixture.
- Sponge cake or ladyfingers
- Form a soft lining that gives the dessert structure and a cake-like base.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the dissolved gelatine. Gelatine sets quickly once cool, so it must be folded in gently and evenly. Vigorous stirring knocks air out of the whipped cream and egg whites, leaving a dense filling.
“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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