Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Charlotte Russe #FlavoursomeTuesdays
Two years ago, I blogged about being invited to a 104th birthday party for my spouse's last living aunt. She lives several miles from my childhood neighborhood in the Bronx. In fact, I grew up about two and a half miles (four kilometers) from the restaurant where the party was held. It's in a part of Yonkers that is heavily Irish, and within walking distance of the Bronx border. (And yes, I'm pleased to announce that this aunt will be celebrating her 106th birthday early next year).
The first time I ate there (for this aunt's 100th birthday) something interesting happened. I couldn't resist walking after the 100th birthday party - I needed to stretch my legs. I went out walking with my sister in law and my spouse.
As I walked down the street, I passed a bakery, an Italian bakery. It had an old sign on it, a sign that may have dated from the 1960's.
Suddenly, something seemed so familiar. I couldn't shake the feeling that I had been on this street long ago.
My mind took me back over 50 years, back to when many bakeries in the Bronx featured a special treat that is only made by one or two bakeries any more. It was a street dessert called the Charlotte Russe.
I loved this special treat.
The Bronx Charlotte Russe was simple- a round piece of spongecake, with whipped cream and topped with a cherry. You bought it in a push-up cup - you pushed it up from the bottom as you ate. It was more of a cool weather delight.
I remember taking a bus with my mother to a place in the Northern Bronx where I got my hair cut, and she would visit her life insurance agent to make a monthly payment on a small life insurance policy. Then, she would buy me a Charlotte Russe.
One day soon after, on Facebook, someone from the Bronx posted a picture of a Charlotte Russe. I knew what it was right away. Some things you never forget.
The Russe was sitting on a box from the Holtermanns Bakery in Staten Island. So I went online, and, sure enough, Holtermanns still makes these gems of sweetness. Although, perhaps, not for much longer, as the push up cups are becoming harder and harder to find. And, it seems they don't always use the spongecake - they use pieces of pinwheels or other cakes that didn't sell.
But Staten Island was a long way from the restaurant where the 104th birthday party was held.
Now, in 2017, I see Holtermanns Bakery still makes Charlotte Russe, at least if their website is up to date. But for how much longer, I wonder? I've found a second bakery, Francesco's in Hicksville, Long Island, that may also be making them (a comment on Trip Advisor), but I can't find absolute proof on their website.
Will I ever eat a Charlotte Russe again? Will I ever feast on its whipped cream?
Do you have a favorite food that is no longer made or hard to find?
Join Bellybytes at Mumbai on a High and Shilpa Gupte at Metanoia for #FlavoursomeTuesdays.
11 comments:
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Oh, yes, Charlotte Russe, a wonderful dessert. In the 90’s there was a kosher bakery here on Long Island that still made Charlotte Russe, and my dad used to buy it for my kids. I’ll have to go check out the place in Hicksville
ReplyDeleteWow! Now that is quite a memory, Alana! A really delicious memory, I must say! :)
ReplyDeleteMy mother used to bake a cake ages ago, that was really simple...in an oven she placed on the gas stove - which we may not find today. The cake used to be as simple as simple can be, with icing on the top that she made with home made cream. It must be almost 30 plus years ago that she used to bake that cake, but I still remember its taste and the love that went in baking that cake.
Some memories from our past seldom get wiped out with time, isn't it?
Thank you so much for joining me on #flavoursometuesdays! <3
I admit it- I like whipped cream, too. But, that spongecake was from hunger. (Using an old NYC expression.) And, they are still made- both with ersatz whipped cream (so it can be used as a desert for a meat meal), as well as the conventional cream variety. Note that it may be easier to find those using the ersatz variety (given that it is still a staple for Jewish [kosher] affairs).
ReplyDeleteOh. My. Word. Now I'm craving this and I hadn't even heard of it till a moment ago . . .
ReplyDeleteWell done!
Well, it's definitely not a street food...My father's very favorite food, he said, was a vine-ripened Yellow-Pink-Center tomato. This is a variety of tomato that we always had in the garden. The fruit is usually odd-shaped; the peelings are streaked with yellow, orange, green, and occasionally a fleck of supermarket-tomato red. Compared with a supermarket tomato (a variety bred for firmness), Yellow-Pink-Centers are much softer, sweeter, and juicier. They really need to be eaten from a bowl with a spoon! I still see them for sale, locally, but they're less popular than they used to be.
ReplyDeleteI hope you do find that elusive Charlotte Russe again and it takes you back to all those wonderful childhood memories.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you need to get a local bakery on board. I bet if there was enough interest, you could bring this back. Everything old is new again.
ReplyDeleteRight into my mind popped "Junket" when you asked that question. It was this raspberry custard type of thing that I LOVED. Most likely, like so many bad things I liked as a younger person, it's fallen out of favor.
ReplyDeleteFood memories are as precious as other memories. Last weekend, I, along with my parents, went out of town to a hilly resort. It was a home-stay so the food there was just like one would eat at home as in similar taste. However, it was not same as what we cook and eat at home since we are from North India and we were holidaying in South India. The food in both these parts is way different from each other. Still, when I tasted the dessert one afternoon, I actually remembered the taste of something from my childhood which my mother used to cook. I felt glad that my mother was there with me and I could tell her that.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you get to eat Charlotte Russe again soon.
I've never heard of a Charlotte Russe, but it sounds wonderful. Eighty-year-old and her Walk to Freedom
ReplyDeleteSo many memories associated with food! I hope you get to eat Charlotte Russe again!
ReplyDelete