Charlotte Russe

A no-bake charlotte in its simplest form: cold whipped cream in a cake-lined mold. Everything depends on the cream, since there is no gelatin here to hold the filling up.

• The hinge: cream fat and temperatureUse heavy or whipping cream at 36 percent fat or more; ultra-pasteurized cream whips but holds less well. Chill the cream, bowl and beaters until genuinely cold, as warm cream will foam and then collapse into butter-flecked liquid.
• "Turning under cream when it first rises"This most likely describes folding the first risen foam back down into the liquid with the whisk rather than beating straight through. Read that way, it builds an even, fine-bubbled froth instead of a loose top layer over thin cream beneath.
• Quantities in modern termsA pint of cream is 2 cups; a half cupful of powdered sugar is confectioners' sugar, roughly 60 g. Whipped, the pint will roughly double to about a quart of filling.
• No gelatin, so no waitingMany charlotte russe recipes of the period set the cream with gelatin or isinglass. This one does not, so it will begin to weep within a few hours. Assemble it the same day and serve within two or three hours of filling.
• Lining the dishTrim lady fingers or sponge fingers flat and stand them upright, rounded side out, packing them tight so there is no gap for cream to escape. A straight-sided 1 1/2-quart bowl or a 7-inch springform lined with parchment both unmold cleanly.
• Sponge cake substitutionCommercial sponge sheet or trimmed pound cake slices work if lady fingers are unavailable. Avoid crisp Italian savoiardi unless you brush them lightly with sherry or coffee, as they stay hard against unset cream.
• YieldSix to eight servings from a 1 1/2-quart mold. Serve cold, spooned or cut in wedges, with fruit or a fruit sauce if you want to cut the richness.