Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Cranberry Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatin and cranberries
Soak the gelatin in cold water.
Put the cranberries in a saucepan with enough water to prevent burning and cover tightly.
Once the cranberries pop, press them through a colander.
Set the mixture
Add the sugar and soaked gelatin to the cranberry puree.
Place the mixture in a pan of ice water until it begins to thicken.
Stir in the whipped cream and pour into a mold.
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.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Provides the gel structure that lets the dessert set firm.
- Cranberries
- Supply the tart flavor and color, and their pulp gives body to the mixture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the tart cranberry puree and balances its acidity.
- Whipped cream
- Adds fat and air, making the set dessert lighter and creamier.
The step that matters
Chilling the mixture until it begins to thicken. Gelatin sets as it cools, so the mixture must thicken slightly before the cream is folded in. If it is left too long it can set lumpy, and if too warm the gel will not hold, so the cream will deflate.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.