Name: Golden Cream
Ingredients: six tablespoonfuls of sugar; three ounces of grated chocolate; one-quarter pound of sugar; one-half pints of cream; one-half ounces of clarified isinglass; one pint of the cream; one-half pint of cream; one quart of milk; two ounces of grated chocolate; eight tablespoonfuls of sugar; one pint of cream; one ounce isinglass; one quart of boiling water the peels of four large lemons; one cupful of fine white sugar; one pint of water; a quart of milk; a pound of white sugar; a piece of lawn; six eggs; one tablespoonful of sifted flour; six tablespoonfuls; one way until the mixture thickens; eight eggs; two eggs; one quarter of a pound of white sugar; one large lemon; one way until it thickens; four large lemons; four lemons; ten eggs

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 ↓

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 pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Eggs: Yolks thicken the milk into a custard, and whipped whites lighten the top.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the custard that sets when cooled.
Sugar: Sweetens the custard and the beaten whites.
Sifted flour: Helps stabilize the custard so it holds its body when boiled.

The step that matters

Boiling the milk and yolks together. Once the yolks are added, the custard must be heated enough to thicken but not so long that the eggs curdle or turn grainy, so it should be watched closely while boiling.

Swap the lemon

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

Vanillafits better
Raisinfits better
Coconutfits better
Lemonthe original

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
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
Water	not in our table	0

Golden Cream

Golden Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

Bake and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)