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Charlotte Russe (Dissolve one-fourth package)
Dissolve one-fourth package of gelatine in enough water to cover it, then make a custard of one quart of milk and yolks of four eggs and enough sugar to sweeten, stir in the gelatine and mix all together on the stove until it thickens; then turn into a bowl to cool, adding a little vanilla and sherry wine to flavor to suit your taste. When cool, stir in the whites of four eggs, after they have been beaten to a stiff froth; line the moulds with slices of sponge cake after dipping it into a mixture of sherry wine and sugar and water, just enough to moisten the cake; fill the moulds with the mixture, and set one side to get stiff, then turn out on a dish to eat. CHAPTER XVIII.
A late-Victorian charlotte russe: a stirred custard set with gelatine, lightened with beaten whites, and moulded inside a lining of wine-soaked sponge cake. One step in it does not survive modern food-safety practice.
- The raw whites are the problemThe whites of four eggs are beaten stiff and folded into a custard that has already been taken off the heat and cooled, then the dessert is only set aside to stiffen. Nothing in the procedure brings those whites to a temperature that would destroy Salmonella. A current recipe, built around pasteurised egg product or a cooked meringue, should be used instead.
- Chilling is not a kill stepGelatine sets the mixture but does nothing to the bacteria in it, and the sugar and small amount of sherry are far too dilute to matter. Raw-white desserts of this kind carry the greatest risk for the very young, the elderly and anyone with a weakened immune system.
- "One-fourth package of gelatine" cannot be convertedPackages of the period varied in weight and in setting strength between brands, and sheet gelatine was graded differently again. There is no honest modern equivalent to quote here; anyone working from this text is guessing at the set.
- What the vessels meanA quart is 32 fl oz. The "moulds" are individual charlotte moulds or plain cups, lined with cake and turned out; the single large charlotte mould with straight sides is the other common form. "Set one side" simply means set it aside.
- Sponge cake, not ladyfingersThis book calls for slices of plain sponge cake where French practice uses biscuits à la cuiller. The cake is dipped only long enough to moisten, not soaked, or the lining collapses when the mould is inverted.
- YieldA quart of milk with four eggs and cake lining fills roughly eight to ten individual moulds, or one large charlotte.