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Dessert

Ratafia Cream

A chilled dessert made with ratafia cakes, bitter almonds, milk, isinglass, heavy cream, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Ratafia Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in the milk.

  2. Break the ratafia cakes into fine pieces and sift through a coarse sieve.

  3. Alternatively, pound the bitter almonds with some sugar.

Make the cream

  1. In a large bowl, whisk the heavy cream until it forms a light froth.

  2. Add the ratafia cakes or almond mixture to the whipped cream and mix well.

  3. Stir in the dissolved isinglass until combined.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

  2. Once set, carefully turn it out and serve.

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

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

  2. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  3. Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream so it holds its shape when turned out.
Heavy cream
Provides fat and body, whipped to a light froth to give the dessert a light, rich texture.
Ratafia cakes
Supply the characteristic almond-like flavour that defines the dish.
Milk
Liquid that carries the isinglass and loosens the cream mixture before it sets.

The step that matters

Dissolve the isinglass fully before combining. Isinglass sets firmly once it cools, so if it is not completely dissolved in the milk it can form lumps and leave uneven, rubbery pockets in the set cream.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, cream):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Chestnutfits about as well
  3. Pistachiofits about as well
  4. Hazelnutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, cream. 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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