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Charlotte-Russe (Split two dozen lady-fingers)
Split two dozen lady-fingers (slices of sponge or other cake may be used), lay them in a mold, put one-third of a box of gelatine into half pint of milk, place it where it will be warm enough to dissolve. Whip three pints of cream to a froth, and keep it cool. beat the yolks of three eggs, and mix with half pound powdered sugar, then beat the whites very stiff, and add to it, strain the gelatine upon these, stirring quickly; then add the cream, flavor with vanilla or lemon, pour over the cake, let stand upon ice two hours. Serve with whipped cream. Some add a layer of jelly at bottom of mold.-Mrs. Ida M. Donaldson, Springdale, Col.
This is a raw-egg charlotte russe: the yolks, the whites and the cream are never heated at any point, and the only warm ingredient is half a pint of milk used to melt gelatine. It cannot be recommended as written.
- The eggs are never cookedThree yolks and three whites go into the mold raw. Nothing in the method brings them to a temperature that would kill Salmonella — the warm gelatine milk is a fraction of the total volume and is immediately buffered by three pints of cold whipped cream. The finished sweet then sits on ice for two hours, which preserves any contamination rather than reducing it.
- Why it mattered less in 1880s ColoradoWhy it mattered less in the 1880s -- Household egg supply was often local and fresh rather than of unknown age and origin, which is part of why such recipes read confidently. That is not a reason the method is safe now.
- Long cold holdingAn uncooked egg-and-cream mixture held for hours, then served with more whipped cream, is a classic vehicle for foodborne illness. Chilling slows bacterial growth; it does not stop it, and the mixture is neither acidic nor sugary enough to be self-preserving despite the half pound of sugar.
- If you want charlotte russeUse a current recipe. Modern versions build the filling on a cooked custard base or use pasteurized eggs, and they are widely available.
- An ambiguous measurement anyway"One-third of a box of gelatine" refers to a proprietary package of the period, and such boxes varied in weight and in setting strength between brands. There is no reliable conversion to a modern envelope, so even a cook determined to reconstruct this dish is guessing at the set.
- Lady-fingersThe savoiardi sold today are generally drier and harder than freshly baked lady-fingers of the period, which is worth knowing when reading any period charlotte recipe.
Charlotte russe is generally traced to the French pastry cook Antonin Carême, who worked for a time for Tsar Alexander I and is usually credited with the name — a plain charlotte being a hot dish of buttered bread and fruit, the russe version a cold one lined with biscuits and filled with Bavarian cream. By the time it reached American community cookbooks it had become a familiar company dessert in households that could get cream and ice. The contribution is credited to a named subscriber in Springdale, Colorado; books of this kind were commonly assembled from recipes solicited from women across the country, and quantities in them are often left as the contributor gave them.