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Dessert

Apple Charlotte

A chilled dessert of stewed apples in gelatin, set in savoy biscuits and topped with whipped gelatin cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓

Apple Charlotte

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the apple purée

  1. Peel and core the apples.

  2. Add water, lemon rind, and sugar.

  3. Stew until a pulp forms.

  4. Rub through a wire sieve.

  5. Dissolve the gelatin.

  6. Mix it into the apple purée.

  7. Stir in the whipped cream.

Assemble and set

  1. Line a mould with the savoy biscuits.

  2. Pour in the apple mixture.

  3. Place it on ice to set.

  4. Once set, turn the charlotte out onto a glass dish.

Make the whip and serve

  1. For the whip, dissolve the gelatin in lemon juice and water.

  2. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.

  3. Fold into the gelatin mixture.

  4. Pile the whip on top of the charlotte.

  5. Garnish with crystallized fruits.

  6. Serve.

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

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

  2. Lemon + biscuittop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together697 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,551 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Cream + biscuittop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  5. Sugar + biscuittop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Apples
Provide the pulp that forms the flavourful body of the charlotte.
Gelatine
Sets the apple purée and the whip so the charlotte holds its shape when turned out.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the topping a light, airy foam structure.
Cream
Stirred into the purée, it adds richness and a softer, smoother texture.
Savoy biscuits
Line the mould, giving the charlotte its structure and a crisp, absorbent edge.
Sugar
Sweetens the stewed apples and balances their tartness.

The step that matters

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Egg whites must be whipped until firm but not dry, since over-beating makes them grainy and they lose air. Folding gently into the gelatine mixture keeps the foam light so the whip holds its shape.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, cream, egg, biscuit):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raspberryfits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, cream, egg, biscuit. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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