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Dessert

Macaroon Cream

A dessert of macaroons topped with a raspberry jam custard and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Macaroon Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Line a deep glass dish with macaroons and place a bit of raspberry or other jam on each.

Make the custard

  1. In a saucepan, combine milk, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch; cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly.

  2. Strain the hot custard over the macaroons and let it cool.

Finish and serve

  1. Before serving, whip the heavy cream until light and fold one part into the custard.

  2. Pile the remaining whipped cream on top of the custard.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  2. Raspberry + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,014 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Raspberry + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,332 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Macaroons
Form the soft base layer that the custard is poured over.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness as they set with gentle heat.
Cornstarch
Thickens the custard so it holds its shape when cooled.
Heavy cream
Whipped to add airy lightness and a rich, creamy topping.
Milk
Forms the liquid body of the custard.

The step that matters

Cook the custard until thickened. Stir constantly over medium heat so the cornstarch and egg yolks thicken evenly without scorching or lumping. Cornstarch needs to reach a simmer to reach full thickening power, so the custard should be stirred until it visibly thickens.

Swap the raspberry

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits about as well
  3. Raspberrythe original
  4. Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar, cream. 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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