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 ↓
Curds and Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the curd
Pour 1 tablespoon of prepared rennet into each quart of milk.
When the milk has curdled, tie it loosely in a thin cloth and hang it to drain without wringing or pressing.
Once drained, place the curd in a mug and set it in cool water, changing the water frequently.
Serve
When serving, gently ladle out any whey from the mug without pressing the curd.
Transfer the curd to a deep dish and pour fresh cream over it.
Serve with powdered loaf sugar and a nutmeg grater.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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 body of the dish, setting into curd when rennet is added.
- Prepared rennet
- Enzyme that coagulates the milk proteins, turning the liquid into soft curd.
- Fresh cream
- Adds richness and fat, softening the mild curd when poured over it.
- Powdered loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness to the curd at serving, balancing its mild flavour.
The step that matters
Draining without wringing or pressing. Squeezing or pressing the curd forces out too much whey and makes it firm and dry. Letting it drain on its own keeps the curd soft and moist.
“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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