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Dessert

Vanilla Cream

A custard made from eggs, milk, cream, gelatin, sugar, and vanilla, folded into whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Vanilla Cream

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Vanilla Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of the 3 eggs and the white of 1 egg thoroughly.

  2. Stir in the milk and boil until it thickens, then set aside to cool.

Set the gelatine

  1. Soak the gelatine in ¼ cup cold water, then heat and stir until melted.

  2. Strain the gelatine and pour it into the custard.

Combine and mold

  1. Whip the cream to a froth, then add the sugar and vanilla.

  2. Once the custard is cooled, gently stir it into the whipped cream and pour into a mold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Cream + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Eggs
Thicken the custard as they set when heated, giving it body and structure.
Gelatine
Sets the dessert so it holds its shape when unmolded.
Cream
Whipped, it adds lightness and a rich, creamy mouthfeel.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds richness and softness.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and dissolves easily into the whipped cream.

The step that matters

Gently stir the cooled custard into the whipped cream. Whipped cream is full of trapped air that deflates under vigorous stirring, so folding gently keeps the mixture light. Adding warm custard can also melt or thin the cream, so it should be cooled first.

“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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