Why it works: Apricot and strawberry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 183 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Apricot Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apricot base
Rub the drained apricots through a sieve.
Dissolve the gelatine in the apricot syrup over low heat.
Add the apricot puree to the gelatine mixture and sweeten to taste.
Set and serve
Gradually fold in the whipped cream.
Leave the mixture until it is almost set.
Pour the mixture into a mould lined with strawberry jelly.
Refrigerate until firm.
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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Apricot + strawberrytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together183 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Syrup + creamtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + strawberrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,525 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Apricot + syruptop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Syrup + strawberrytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together332 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid mixture into a firm, sliceable cream when chilled.
- Whipped cream
- Adds fat and air, giving the set cream a light, smooth texture.
- Apricots
- Provide the main fruit flavour and body through their puree.
The step that matters
Leave the mixture until it is almost set. If the gelatine has already firmed too much, the folded cream will not blend evenly and may lump. If it is still too liquid, the whipped cream can deflate and the mixture will not hold its shape in the mould.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, cream, strawberry):
- Vanillafits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Pineapplefits about as well
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, cream, strawberry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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