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Dessert

Knox's Gelatine

A gelatin dessert made with macaroons, marshmallows, candied cherries, almonds, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Knox's Gelatine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gelatin

  1. Soak gelatine in cold water.

  2. Dissolve gelatine in boiling water and add sugar.

Fold and set

  1. When the mixture is cold, fold in whipped cream, almonds, macaroons, marshmallows, and candied cherries. Flavor with vanilla or sherry.

  2. Pour into a mold dipped in cold water and chill.

Serve

  1. Remove from mold and serve with angel cake.

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.

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. Vanilla + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

  3. Sugar + creamtop 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 + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 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

Heavy cream
Whipped, it adds airy richness and a light, creamy texture to the set dessert.
Gelatine (in the method)
Sets the liquid mixture into a firm, sliceable structure when chilled.
Macaroons
Stale macaroons soften in the mixture and add body and almond-like sweetness.
Marshmallows
Melt slightly into the mixture, adding sweetness and a soft, chewy texture.
Almonds
Add crunch and a nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft set.

The step that matters

Fold in the whipped cream when the mixture is cold. If the gelatine mixture is still warm, the cream will deflate and the marshmallows may melt. Gelatine begins to set as it cools, so the mixture should be cold but still fluid enough to fold smoothly.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, vanilla):

  1. Chestnutfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Hazelnutfits about as well
  4. Pistachiofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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