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
Make the custard
In a bowl, combine the yolks of the eggs and the milk to form a custard.
Add sugar to taste.
Dissolve the isinglass in ½ cup of water and mix it into the custard.
Heat the mixture on the stove, stirring continuously until it thickens and becomes creamy, then add the Madeira wine.
Assemble and chill
Whip the sweet cream until fluffy, then gently fold it into the cooled custard.
Line molds with sponge cake and pour the mixture into them.
Set the molds on ice to chill until firm.
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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Cream + madeira winetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together146 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and add richness as they set with heat.
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the mixture as it chills.
- Sweet cream
- Whipped to fluffy air that gives the set dessert a light, creamy texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and softness.
- Madeira wine
- Adds aromatic depth and a mild sweetness to the custard.
The step that matters
Folding the whipped cream into the custard. The custard must be cooled before folding in the whipped cream. If it is still warm, the cream deflates and loses its air, and the dessert will be dense rather than light.
“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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