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 ↓
Banana Parfait
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Peel and mash half a dozen bananas to a pulp.
Add to the mashed bananas a wine glass of rum, one of maraschino, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, one-half cup of sugar, three eggs, the yolks and whites beaten separately, and one cup of heavy cream whipped stiffly.
Mix all together, folding the whites in last.
Put the mixture in a mould.
Freeze
Pack the mould in ice and salt for four hours, using equal parts of ice and salt.
If you omit the liquor, freeze for three hours.
Apricots or peaches can be used in the same way.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Bananas (in the method)
- Provide the main flavour and a soft, pulpy body to the parfait.
- Eggs
- Their beaten yolks and whites lighten the mixture and help it set smooth when frozen.
- Heavy cream
- Whipped stiffly, it adds richness and airy texture that keeps the frozen dessert creamy.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and softens the texture so it freezes less hard.
The step that matters
Folding the whites in last. Gently folding the beaten whites in last keeps the air they hold, which gives the parfait its light texture. Stirring hard would deflate them and make the dessert dense.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, egg. 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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