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Dessert

Strawberry Charlotte

A chilled gelatin dessert made with strawberries, pineapple juice, eggs, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Strawberry Charlotte

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the strawberries

  1. Pick, wash, and cap the strawberries.

  2. Let them stand with 1 cup of sugar for 1 hour.

  3. Mash the strawberries and strain to extract 1 cup of juice, allowing some pulp to pass through.

  4. Dissolve the gelatin in the cup of strawberry juice.

Make the custard

  1. Heat the pineapple juice to boiling.

  2. Beat the eggs stiff over crushed ice.

  3. Add the remaining sugar and beat well.

  4. Gradually pour the hot pineapple juice mixture into the egg mixture.

  5. When the mixture is nearly set, pour it into a mold that has been dipped in cold water.

Assemble and serve

  1. Line the mold with halved strawberries.

  2. Once chilled, turn it out onto a platter.

  3. Garnish with whole strawberries and whipped cream.

  4. Serve with strawberry sauce.

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Gelatin + pineappletop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together282 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,841 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Gelatin + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the mixture so the charlotte holds its shape when turned out.
Eggs
Beaten stiff to whip air into the mixture, giving it a light, airy texture.
Strawberries
Provide the main flavor, and their juice and pulp add moisture and fruity sweetness.
Sugar
Sweetens the strawberries and the egg mixture, and helps draw juice out of the fruit.
Pineapple juice
Adds liquid and a tangy sweetness to the egg mixture.

The step that matters

Gradually pour the hot pineapple juice mixture into the egg mixture.. Pouring the hot liquid in slowly, while beating, tempers the eggs so they warm gently without scrambling. Pouring it all at once can cook the eggs in lumps and deflate the stiffly beaten foam that gives the charlotte its airy texture.

Swap the pineapple

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Pineapplethe original

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