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Vanilla Cream

A thickened milk custard flavored with vanilla and set with isinglass.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Vanilla Cream

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 ↓

Vanilla Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Heat the milk and sugar in a saucepan over low heat.

  2. Beat the egg yolks and gradually add the sweetened milk.

  3. Flavor the mixture with essence of vanilla.

  4. Pour the mixture into a jug and place it in a saucepan of boiling water.

  5. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens, but do not let it boil.

Set and serve

  1. Remove from heat and stir in the isinglass, previously dissolved in ½ pint of water and boiled for 2-3 minutes.

  2. Pour the cream into an oiled mold and let it set in a cool place.

  3. Carefully turn it out onto a dish.

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.

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

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

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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 as they set gently with heat, giving it body and richness.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that carries the flavor and sets into the custard.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and softens the set custard's taste.
Isinglass
Sets the custard into a firm, sliceable shape as it cools.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard as it thickens. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but if the mixture boils they can curdle and turn grainy. Keep it hot but below boiling while stirring constantly until it coats the spoon.

“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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