Why it works: Cream and coffee are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,339 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓
Imperial Coffee
two personsIngredients
Directions
Make the coffee
If intended for two persons, take four rounding teaspoonfuls of coffee tied up in a piece of Swiss muslin (leave plenty of room for expansion).
Pour the muslin bundle on two cups of bubbling, boiling water.
Cover close and set back on the range for about ten minutes.
Make the egg foam and serve
Break one tgg in a large coffee cup.
Give it a good whip with an egg-beater.
Divide it half in each cup.
Add the usual quantity of sugar.
Pour the mixture on the hot coffee.
Add warm milk and one spoonful of cream.
The golden foam should stand one inch above the rim of the cup.
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.
-
Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs (in the method)
- Whipped into a foam that gives the drink its light, golden, airy top.
- Coffee
- Provides the main bitter, aromatic flavour of the drink after steeping in hot water.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness that balances the bitterness of the coffee.
The step that matters
Whipping the egg to a foam. The egg must be whipped until it holds a stable, airy foam. Under-whipping gives a thin layer that collapses, while the foam needs to stand proud of the cup rim as the record describes.
“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.
You might also like
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Egg Coffee20 recipes
Coffee Milk12 recipes
Postum Coffee9 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.