Charlotte syrup (Сироп Шарлот) is a GOST recipe for a cooked milk-egg-sugar syrup — the essential semi-finished product used as the base for Charlotte cream (buttercream). This syrup gives Charlotte cream its characteristic smooth, refined texture and delicate dairy flavor that distinguishes it from simpler buttercreams made with powdered sugar.
Recipe per 10 kg
- Whole milk — 4.500 kg
- Granulated sugar (TS 99.85%) — 4.500 kg
- Egg yolks — 1.500 kg
Technological map
Egg yolks are whisked with sugar until thick and pale. Milk is brought to a boil separately. The hot milk is poured into the yolk-sugar mixture in a thin stream while stirring vigorously — this tempering step gradually raises the egg temperature without curdling. The combined mass is returned to heat and cooked while stirring constantly to 103–104 °C. The syrup thickens into a smooth, custard-like consistency.
The finished syrup is strained through a fine sieve to remove any coagulated protein, then cooled to 20–22 °C before being combined with whipped butter to make Charlotte cream. The syrup must be completely cold before adding to butter — warm syrup will melt the butter and produce a broken, greasy cream instead of a smooth, fluffy one.
Charlotte syrup has a limited shelf life due to its dairy and egg content — it should be used within 12 hours if unrefrigerated, or within 24 hours at 4–6 °C. Food safety precautions are essential: the 103–104 °C cooking temperature provides pasteurization of the egg component.