Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Italian Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dissolve the gelatine in boiling water.
In a separate pot, dissolve the corn starch in the boiling milk.
Whip the egg whites to a froth, gradually adding sugar to taste.
Make and set
Strain the boiling milk mixture over the whipped egg whites and stir until cool.
Pour the mixture into moulds and refrigerate until set.
Serve
Serve with a rich custard made from the egg yolks.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable body as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a froth, they add light, airy structure to the cream.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the boiling milk, adding body to the finished cream.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that gives the cream its richness and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream and adds to the stability of the whipped whites.
The step that matters
Straining the boiling milk over the whipped egg whites. Pouring very hot liquid onto whites that are not gently folded in can deflate the foam and lose its airiness. Stirring until cool keeps the mixture light and even before it sets.
“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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