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Dessert

Burnt Almond Charlotte

A chilled dessert of caramelized almonds, gelatin, milk, egg yolks, and whipped cream set in molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and cream match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Burnt Almond Charlotte

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the custard base

  1. Soak the gelatin in cold water for 2 hours.

  2. In a saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of sugar until it becomes liquid and dark.

  3. Add the chopped almonds and stir for 2 minutes; then cool on a platter.

  4. Break the cooled mixture in a mortar and combine with 1½ cups of milk; cook for 10 minutes.

  5. Beat the egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar and add to the cooking mixture along with the gelatin; stir until smooth.

Set and mould

  1. Remove from heat, set in ice water, and beat until it begins to thicken.

  2. Gently fold in 2 quarts of whipped cream and pour into molds.

  3. Chill until firm; optionally, place sponge cake around the mold.

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. Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  4. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds
Provide the nutty flavour and bulk that the caramel is cooked around.
Gelatin
Sets the cream mixture so the charlotte holds its shape when chilled.
Sugar
Caramelises to a dark, bittersweet flavour and sweetens the custard.
Egg yolks
Enrich the custard and add richness and smoothness to the base.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and carries the almond flavour.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and moisture, giving the set dessert a airy texture.

The step that matters

Heating the sugar until dark. Sugar burns quickly once it turns liquid, so it can go from amber to bitter in seconds. Removing it at the right colour keeps the caramel flavour pleasant rather than acrid.

Swap the almond

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

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Pistachiofits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits less well
  4. Nutsfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, sugar, milk, egg, cream. 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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