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Cafe Parfait

A layered coffee and whipped cream parfait set in gelatin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Cafe Parfait

Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cafe Parfait

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the coffee base

  1. Soak the gelatin in cold water for 15 minutes.

  2. Pour the coffee over the soaked gelatin.

  3. Add sugar to the coffee mixture.

  4. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved.

  5. Strain the mixture.

  6. Let the strained mixture cool.

Make the parfait mixture

  1. Whip 1 cup of cream until soft peaks form.

  2. Gently fold the coffee mixture into the whipped cream until it begins to thicken.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a freezer.

  4. Stir the mixture in the freezer until it becomes quite hard.

Mold and freeze

  1. Whip the remaining 1 pint of cream, adding the powdered sugar and vanilla.

  2. Pack the whipped cream into a mold.

  3. Layer the coffee mixture on the outside of the whipped cream in the mold.

  4. Fill the mold with the whipped cream.

  5. Cover the whipped cream with the remaining coffee mixture.

  6. Pack the mold in salt and ice for at least 2 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Coffee + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,391 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,339 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

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

Gelatine
Sets the coffee mixture so the parfait holds its shape when frozen.
Cream
Whipped into foam that gives the parfait a light, airy, creamy texture.
Coffee
Provides the main flavour and liquid base of the parfait.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and softens the firmness of the frozen parfait.

The step that matters

Gently fold the coffee mixture into the whipped cream. Whipped cream holds air bubbles that give a light texture. Vigorous stirring deflates them, leaving a dense parfait. Fold only until the mixture just begins to thicken.

“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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