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 ↓
Syllabub
Ingredients
Directions
Make the milk mixture
Season the milk with sugar and white wine, ensuring it does not curdle.
Fill glasses nearly full with the milk mixture.
Finish and serve
Crown each glass with whipped cream.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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White wine + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,760 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Milk + white winetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together929 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and most of the body of the dessert.
- White wine
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and can make milk curdle if added carelessly.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat for richness and, whipped, gives the topping a light, airy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the wine.
The step that matters
Seasoning the milk with the wine. Wine is acidic, and acid can cause milk proteins to clump and curdle. Adding the wine gradually while stirring steadily, and keeping the milk cold, helps the mixture stay smooth.
“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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