Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Caramel Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Boil powdered sugar with cold water until light brown.
Pour the caramel into the bottom of a pudding mold.
Make the custard
Beat together egg yolks, egg whites, fine sugar, milk, cream, and vanilla.
Strain the mixture into the mold.
Bake and serve
Place the mold in a deep pan and add boiling water halfway up the sides.
Cook for 20 minutes.
Let it cool, then turn out onto a dish and serve with the caramel.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 yolks
- Add richness and help the custard set firm when gently cooked.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lightness to the custard as it sets.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that sets into a soft custard.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture in the custard.
- Powdered sugar
- Melts and browns into the caramel that coats the mold and sauces the dish.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard in a water bath. Surrounding the mold with boiling water keeps the heat gentle and even. Eggs that get too hot curdle and become grainy, so the custard sets smooth only when cooked slowly.
“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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