Charlotte Russe

http://www.jimsdeli.com/food/charlotte-russe.htm

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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