Charlotte Russe couscous cranberries curry dandelions dates deep frying dolma dormice. French toast fried cheese fritters frying funnel cakes galangal garlic generic foods ginger. Cooked charlottes are related to ancient bread pudding ; uncooked charlottes are related to Elizabethan trifles. Fancy, molded desserts remained popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We find midth century recipes for apple, apricot and pear charlottes. Charlotte Russe , a similar confection composed of cream instead of fruit, is attributed by some to Careme.
Early 19th century Europe was intrigued by everything Russian. Think: Service a la Russe. These confections ultimately inspired Brooklyn's legendary childhood bakery staple: Charley Roosh. Considered by some to be the ultimate personal portion of "push-up-pop" of cakey confectionery deliciousness. Baby boomers growing up in the greater NYC area knew this Charley well. What is Charlotte? There are two principal kinds: baked and unbaked.
The best-known baked charlotte is Apple charlotte It seems clear that this charlotte began life in Britain. The OED [Oxford English Dictionary] gives the earliest relevant appearance of 'charlotte' in print as , and at least one recipe for Apple charlotte was published within ten years or so.
The name may have been bestowed in honour of Queen Charlotte , wife of George III, said to be a patron of apple growers The principal unbaked charlotte is Charlotte a la Russe. Here the mould is lined with sponge fingers. In some fancy versions, these are omitted from the bottom, which is covered with a decorative arrangement of glace fruit with a layer of jelly cementing it into a mosaic.
The mould is filled up with a rich cream filling containing gelatin, so that it sets and can be turned out The history of this item seems to have begin with the famous French chef Careme, at the beginning of the 19th century, probably when he was working for the Prince Regent in England, and perhaps after he had come across the British baked charlotte. In fact he called his invention Charlotte a la parisienne; it is said to have acquired the name russe at a banquet in honour of Tsar Alexander I, or because of the switch in France to service a la Russe.
