Home › Recipes › Charlotte for a Small Party
Charlotte for a Small Party
And now for the convenience of those wishing just one charlotte-russe and not enough for a hotel dinner we append a first-class working receipt that will suit. 2 1/2 pints of thin cream. 1 teacupful of maraschino. 7 ounces of sugar. 1 package of Cox's gelatine--1 1/2 ounces.
Put the extra half pint of cream in a small sauce-pan and the gelatine and sugar with it, set over the fire and beat with the wire egg whisk till the gelatine is all dissolved--the quicker the better. Pour the maraschino into the cold cream, then strain in the contents of the saucepan, set the whole in a pan of ice water with salt in it and whip the cream mixture till it begins to set, when pour it into the prepared mold.
The mold should be made ready beforehand. A 2 quart jelly mold will do, or a cake mold. Line it with lady-fingers placed edge to edge, the edges wetted with white of egg. Ornament the top on turning out with whipped cream or meringue.
A cold cream-and-gelatine charlotte russe scaled for a household rather than a hotel service. Two things decide whether it works: the strength of the gelatine and the fat content of the cream.
- The gelatine is the hingeOne package of Cox's is given here as 1 1/2 oz. Period gelatine was not standardised to modern bloom strengths, and that weight of modern powdered gelatine would give you a rubber ball; about 3 envelopes (3/4 oz, 21 g) for the roughly 5 3/4 cups of liquid here is a workable equivalent, and less if you like a soft set.
- "Thin cream"Thin cream meant single or light cream, roughly 18-20% fat, which will not whip on its own. The gelatine is what gives this body. If you want the mixture to thicken as described, use half heavy cream and half whole milk, or accept a denser, more Bavarian texture from all heavy cream.
- A teacupfulThe teacupful was not a standard measure; period books reckon it anywhere from a gill (4 fl oz) to about 6 fl oz. Somewhere around 5 to 6 ounces of maraschino in this quantity of cream is assertive but balanced; start there.
- Maraschino means the liqueurThis is the clear, dry cherry-kernel liqueur from Dalmatia, not the pink syrup from a jar of cocktail cherries. The two are unrelated in flavour and substituting the syrup will make the dessert cloying.
- Sugar and mouldSeven ounces of sugar is about one cup. A 2-quart mould is right for this volume; expect 8 to 10 servings.
- The salted ice bathSalt in the ice water drops the bath below 32F, which is the point of it. Whisk over the bath only until the mixture thickens to the consistency of pouring custard, then pour at once, or it will set in the bowl and you will lose the smooth surface against the ladyfingers.
- Lining the mouldTrim the ladyfingers to the height of the mould and stand them rounded side out, edge to edge. If you are uneasy about uncooked egg white as the glue, pasteurised white works the same way; the same applies to a raw meringue finish, where stabilised whipped cream is the simpler choice.
- Setting and turning outThe recipe gives no setting time. Four to six hours in the refrigerator is enough; overnight is better. Dip the mould in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto the serving plate.