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Dessert

Caramel Mousse

A chilled dessert made from caramel, egg yolks, vanilla, cream, and gelatin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Caramel Mousse

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a saucepan, stir 1 cup sugar over medium heat until it caramelizes, being careful not to let it burn.

  2. Let the caramel cool slightly, then add 1 cup hot water or milk and stir until dissolved.

Make the custard base

  1. Beat 4 egg yolks until thick, then mix in a little of the hot caramel mixture.

  2. Combine the egg mixture with the remaining caramel and stir until the spoon is coated.

  3. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until cold and light.

Fold and freeze

  1. Fold in 3 cups chilled whipped cream.

  2. Pour the mixture into a quart mold, filling it to the top.

  3. Cover with a piece of clean wrapping paper and press down the cover.

  4. Bury the mold in equal parts ice and salt, and let it stand.

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.

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. Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  5. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness when gently cooked with the caramel.
Heavy cream
Whipped and folded in to add air and a light, mousse-like texture.
Sugar
Caramelized to give the mousse its deep, toasted caramel flavour.

The step that matters

Caramelizing the sugar. Sugar darkens quickly once it starts to colour, and past the point of amber it turns bitter and burnt. Removing it from heat at the right colour keeps the caramel flavour clean.

“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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