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Individual Charlottes (Spread some small lady fingers)
Spread some small lady fingers thickly with firm red currant jelly and place by twos together, then cut them lengthwise into stripes and line custard cups with these so that there will be red and yellow stripes all round for the outside. They may be kept in position by slightly wetting the edges of the cake in white of egg. It is well enough for precaution to wipe out the cups first with a touch of olive oil.
For the filling make a rich boiled custard. To each quart allow an ounce of gelatine, (it used to be isinglass), dissolved in water separate, or beaten in the milk while on the fire, which is the shorter way. Favor with lemon. Strain. When cold and so nearly set that the cakes cannot rise and float in it pour this lemon cream into the lined cups, set on ice and turn them out when firm. May be ornamented on top with jelly and whipped cream around in the saucers.
A charlotte russe scaled down to individual moulds, with the sponge fingers sandwiched in jelly so the lining reads as red and yellow stripes. Two things decide whether it works: a custard cooked to the point of thickening but never boiled, and gelatine at a strength firm enough to unmould.
- The hinge: set the gelatine before the custard is hot enough to curdleBloom the gelatine in cold water, then stir it into the finished custard off the heat, or add it to the milk before the eggs go in. Once yolks are in, the custard must not pass about 180F or it will scramble and no amount of straining will make it smooth again.
- Gelatine quantityAn ounce to the quart is a firm, unmouldable set. Modern powdered gelatine comes in quarter-ounce envelopes, so that is four; three gives a softer cream that still turns out of a small cup. Sheet gelatine varies by bloom strength, so weigh rather than count.
- IsinglassThe parenthetical refers to gelatine made from sturgeon swim bladders, once standard for clear jellies. The recipe's own aside ('it used to be isinglass') suggests granulated gelatine had largely displaced it by the time this book was printed; use ordinary unflavoured gelatine.
- Lady fingersItalian savoiardi are the closest supermarket equivalent: dry, crisp, and stable enough to be sandwiched and sliced. Soft bakery ladyfingers will collapse when they meet the wet custard.
- Currant jellyFirm red currant jelly is the point — it holds a line when the sandwiched cakes are cut lengthwise. A slack jam will bleed into the sponge and blur the stripes. Warm the jelly only enough to spread it, then let it firm up again before slicing.
- Oiling the cupsA wiped film of oil is still the simplest release. Use a neutral oil rather than olive, which carries flavour into a lemon cream; a strip of parchment or plastic film in the base works as well.
- "Custard cups"Cup sizes vary, and the lining takes up part of the volume, so a quart of filling will stretch to somewhere between six and eight small cups. Judge the number of sponge fingers by how many stripes each cup needs rather than by a fixed count.
- Temperature of the fillingPour when the cream is cool and beginning to thicken, as the text says. Hot custard floats the lining out of position; fully set custard cannot be poured at all. The window is when it coats a spoon heavily and moves sluggishly.
- Chilling and turning outFour hours in the refrigerator, or overnight. To unmould, dip the base in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto the saucer, then pipe the whipped cream around the base.
The charlotte russe — a mould lined with sponge fingers and filled with a set cream — is generally credited to the French pastry tradition of the early nineteenth century and to Antonin Carême, who is often said to have named it for a Russian patron; the older English charlotte was a baked dish of buttered bread and fruit, which is why the two share a name and almost nothing else. By the end of the century American caterers and hotel pastry cooks had made it a fixture of the cold sweet course, and individual portions turned out of custard cups were the natural answer to serving a banquet table. The recipe's aside about isinglass is a small piece of period bookkeeping: sturgeon-bladder gelatine had been the setting agent of choice for clear jellies and creams, and its replacement by cheap granulated gelatine is one of the quiet changes that separates this book's kitchen from the one before it.