Charlotte Russe
The Charlotte Russe
or, as we said in Brooklyn, Charley Roosh, is a classic New York
City street food. Rarely served in the home, it was bought to be
eaten as a snack as you walked along the avenue (whichever avenue,
it was always an avenue). Just a simple sponge cake topped with
whipped cream and a cherry, the thing was a joy to kids because of
its packaging: on top of a cardboard disk, the whole thing was
inside a white cardboard tube with a scalloped edge. You started
to eat the whipped cream from the top and, as you ate, you pushed
the cardboard disk up from the bottom. More whipped cream, more
licking. Finally, you got down to the sponge cake, usually a bit
dry, but hey, a reward is a reward
Jim Says The
Brooklyn Cookbook has a fairly straightforward sponge cake
recipe that I found a bit too, uh, straightforward. Not bad, but
it could be a packaged mix. They also included a brief blurb on an
1897 recipe by Mrs C E Hubbell. This produced a sponge that bit
back and reminded me more of the Ebinger's bakery sponge cake,
usually a day or two old when you got it in a charlotte russe. I
also found it less complicated than a modern sponge cake: no
separating eggs, no egg whites to beat and fold in, just mix and
go
Serves Makes about 12 charlotte russe
For the sponge cake
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 T cold water
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1 t lemon extract
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t salt
For the whipped cream and decoration
- 1 cup heavy cream, well chilled
- 2 T powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Maraschino cherries
- Chocolate sprinkles
Method Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan. Chill bowl and
beaters for whipping cream
In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs and sugar
together with an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth and
lemon yellow in color. Mix in the cold water, vanilla extract and
lemon extract
Sift together the flour, baking powder and
salt. Fold into the egg mixture. Stir by hand until flour is just
incorporated, don't over mix
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth
the top with a spatula. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until a
toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack
In the chilled bowl, beat the cream on medium
or medium high speed until it begins to thicken. Mix in the
vanilla and, about 1/2 teaspoonful at a time, the powdered sugar.
Beat cream just until it forms stiff peaks. Refrigerate until
ready to use
To Serve Cut sponge cake rounds with a
3-inch cookie cutter. Unless you can find food-grade cardboard
tubes, you're probably going to have to plop or pipe the whipped
cream on the sponge cake rounds. If really necessary, throw on
some chocolate sprinkles, but always top each serving with a
Maraschino cherry
Hints
- Cut off a very thin slice of the baked top -- the whipped
cream sticks to the cake better
- Piping is prettier than plopping, but not at all necessary
- Before plopping on the whipped cream, try spreading on a
thin layer of raspberry or strawberry preserves
- Instead of cutting rounds, just cut the cake into squares --
no waste
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