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Dessert

Strawberry Charlotte

A chilled dessert of custard, sponge cake, strawberries, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Strawberry Charlotte

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Make a thin custard by whisking together the eggs, milk, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Flavor the custard with vanilla and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

Assemble and serve

  1. About 20 minutes before serving, layer the custard over the sponge cake or ladyfingers.

  2. Once the cake is thoroughly moistened, top with mashed strawberries and whipped cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Thicken the custard as they set when heated, giving it body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds richness and softness.
Sponge cake or ladyfingers
Provides the structure of the charlotte and soaks up the custard to become moist.
Mashed strawberries
Adds fruit flavor, sweetness and acidity to the dessert.
Whipped cream
Adds a light, airy texture and fat for a creamy topping.

The step that matters

Cook the custard until thickened, stirring constantly. Egg proteins set as the custard heats, so stirring keeps it smooth and prevents the eggs from scrambling or curdling on the bottom of the pan.

“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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