Charlotte Russe
jimsdeli.comcharlotte russe.htmOpen ↗
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
2/2 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
---
---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =--- ---= Move
UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without
tribulation." Sheldon ````````````