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Chantilly Charlotte
Line a dome-shaped mould with lady's-finger biscuits, arranging them artistically according to taste; put into a basin one pint or more of thick cream, and whisk it with an egg-beater until it is formed into a stiff froth. For one pint of cream, add gradually four ounces of powdered sugar and one-half ounce of soaked gelatine. Flavor the cream with a few drops of essence of violets; pour it carefully into the mould with the biscuits, and pack the mould in salt and pounded ice for an hour or two. When it is ready to serve, turn the contents of the mould carefully out on a fancy dish, and serve.
A charlotte russe in miniature: whipped cream stabilized with gelatine, set inside a wall of sponge biscuits. Nearly everything here works as written; the gelatine and the ice-packing are what need translating.
- The hinge: gelatine temperatureSoak the gelatine in cold water, then melt it gently and let it cool to just barely warm before whisking it into the cream in a thin stream. Poured in hot it deflates the froth; poured in cold it seizes into rubbery threads that never disperse.
- How much gelatineHalf an ounce is about 14 g, which is roughly four teaspoons of powdered gelatine or five or six modern sheets. That is a firm set by current taste, enough to stand up unmoulded on a platter; three teaspoons gives a softer, creamier result that still holds.
- Powdered sugarFour ounces of powdered sugar is about 115 g, a scant cup of confectioners' sugar as sold now. Modern confectioners' sugar contains cornstarch, which is harmless here and mildly helpful for stability.
- Lady's-fingersItalian savoiardi are the closest commercial equivalent and are dry enough to hold their shape against the cream. Trim one end of each flat so they stand upright, sugared side facing the mould, and fit them tightly — gaps let the cream bulge through and spoil the turn-out.
- Essence of violetsEssence of violets an orris-root tincture, and still sold as violet extract or as violet syrup from confectioners. A few drops means a few drops; it turns soapy very quickly. Rose water is a reasonable substitute in the same tiny quantity.
- Salt and pounded iceThis is a chilling bath, not a freezing one: a mould buried in crushed ice and coarse salt sits below 32F and sets the gelatine fast. Three to four hours in the refrigerator does the same work. Do not use the freezer, which will make the cream grainy and the biscuits hard.
- Mould and unmouldingMould and unmoulding A pint of cream whipped roughly doubles, to about a quart, so use a 1.5- to 2-quart dome or bowl lined with plastic wrap for an easy release. Dip the mould in warm water for five seconds, wipe it, and invert onto a chilled plate.
- YieldEight to ten servings. It will not hold more than a day; the biscuits soften into the cream and the dome slumps.
Charlottes of this kind descend from the early nineteenth-century charlotte russe, generally credited to Antônin Carême, who lined a mould with sponge fingers and filled it with a cold cream rather than the hot cooked apple of the older English charlotte. The Chantilly in the name is simply the cream: crème Chantilly, sweetened whipped cream, is traditionally linked to the kitchens of the Château de Chantilly and its maître d'hôtel Vatel, though the attribution is not documented and the name only became fixed well after his death. Whatever its exact provenance, it is a dessert built for the dining-room rather than the kitchen, molded and unmolded whole, and finished with a fashionable floral essence at a time when violet flavoring perfumed everything from pastilles to ices.