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Charlotte Russe, with Pineapple
Peel and cut a pineapple in slices; put with the slices in a stewpan half a pound of fine white sugar, half an ounce of patent gelatine and half a teacupful of water; stew slowly until very tender; carry through a sieve; put upon ice; stir it well. Just as it is upon the point of setting, add a pint of cream well whipped; mix it well and pour into a mould lined with sponge cake or lady fingers.
A cold gelatine cream set inside a wall of sponge — straightforward once the setting point is caught at the right moment. Two details in the original are doing more work than they appear to.
- Cook the pineapple, alwaysFresh pineapple contains bromelain, a protease that digests gelatine and will leave the cream soupy. Stewing it "until very tender" destroys the enzyme, so however the original cook reasoned it, the fruit must not be folded in raw. Canned pineapple is already heat-treated; raw fresh pineapple is not, and cannot be substituted.
- Half an ounce of gelatineThat is 14 g, or two standard 1/4-oz envelopes, roughly 4 teaspoons of powder. "Patent gelatine" refers to the proprietary manufactured product sold under brand names, as opposed to gelatine boiled up at home from calf's feet.
- Half a teacupful of waterA Victorian teacupful is variously reckoned at 4 to 6 fl oz, so this is somewhere between 2 and 3 fl oz, say 4 to 6 tablespoons. The pineapple releases a good deal of its own juice as it stews, so start at the low end and add only if the pan threatens to catch.
- "Carry through a sieve"Press the hot fruit and syrup through a fine sieve with the back of a ladle, extracting the pulp and leaving the tough core fibres behind. A blender will not replace this; the fibres stay in suspension and the finished cream turns stringy.
- The point of settingThis is the hinge. Chill the purée, stirring, until it thickens to the consistency of unbeaten egg white — cold to the touch and mounding slightly on the spoon. Fold in the whipped cream a moment too early and it separates into a jelly layer under a foam layer; a moment too late and the mixture seizes into lumps you cannot smooth out.
- The creamA pint of cream, whipped as the recipe says until well whipped, but stopped short of stiff and grainy so it will still fold in smoothly. Modern ultra-pasteurised cream whips slower and holds less air; give it time and keep the bowl cold.
- Lining the mouldTrim lady fingers to stand upright and packed tight around a 1.5-quart charlotte mould or plain-sided bowl, flat sides in, with sponge fitted across the base. A brief moistening of the sponge with pineapple syrup helps it adhere, but soaking it collapses the wall.
- Setting time and yieldFour hours minimum in the refrigerator, better overnight. Serves six to eight; it does not keep past a day, as the sponge goes wet.
The charlotte russe is generally traced to Antonin Carême, who is credited with the cold version set in a wall of lady fingers early in the nineteenth century; the "russe" is usually explained as a compliment to Tsar Alexander I, in whose service Carême briefly worked, though the naming is traditional rather than documented. Its appearance in an American household book marks the point at which a Parisian restaurant construction had entered the domestic repertoire — helped enormously by industrial products. Granulated "patent" gelatine removed the day-long labour of boiling calf's feet, and pineapple, once a hothouse rarity and a symbol of conspicuous hospitality, had become far easier to come by. A dish like this is a snapshot of luxury turning ordinary.