Why it works: Maple syrup and cream work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 607 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Maple Mousse
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook
Beat the egg whites until light.
Add the maple syrup and cook in a double boiler until thickened.
Set aside to cool on ice.
Assemble and freeze
Once cool, fold in the whipped cream and the beaten egg whites until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a freezer, pack it in ice and salt, and let it stand for four hours.
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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Maple syrup + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together607 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + maple syruptop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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 whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the mousse its light, airy structure.
- Maple syrup
- Provides sweetness and maple flavor, and thickens when gently cooked.
- Whipped cream
- Adds fat and richness, and its trapped air keeps the texture soft and smooth.
The step that matters
Folding the whipped cream and egg whites. Fold gently so the air in the whipped cream and egg white foam is kept. Vigorous stirring deflates these foams, leaving a dense, heavy mousse instead of a light, airy one.
“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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