Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Orange Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 30 minutes.
Soak the orange rind in the orange juice for 30 minutes.
Make the orange cream
Melt the gelatine over boiling water in the basin it was soaked in.
Add the orange juice and rind to the melted gelatine and heat until hot.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and stir into the mixture until it thickens.
Fold in the cream and strain into a mould that has been wet with cold water.
Refrigerate until set and serve cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cream + orangetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture and add richness as they cook gently with the sugar.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, light texture when folded in.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dessert and balances the tartness of the orange.
- Orange juice
- Gives the dessert its main orange flavour and liquid base.
The step that matters
Stirring the egg yolks into the hot mixture. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently, but if the mixture is too hot when they are added they can scramble into lumps. Stir them in steadily and keep the heat moderate so the custard thickens smoothly.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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