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 ↓
Raspberry Dessert
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a double boiler, heat 1 quart of milk.
Reserve enough milk to moisten a scant cup of cornstarch.
Once the milk is hot, add the cornstarch and cook until thick.
Stir in 1 cup of sugar and 1 pint of mashed raspberries.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until cold.
To serve, turn the mold onto a platter, surround with whipped cream, and scatter a few berries on top.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that the starch thickens.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the custard a firm, sliceable body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the tartness of the raspberries.
- Raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and color throughout the custard.
The step that matters
Cook the cornstarch until thick. Starch only thickens fully when the mixture is hot enough to swell its granules. Undercooked cornstarch leaves a thin, starchy-tasting custard that will not hold its shape in the mold.
“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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