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 ↓
Spanish Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Put milk in a double boiler over heat.
In a bowl, beat together egg yolks and sugar until well combined.
When the milk is scalding hot, mix the gelatine with the cold water and let it stand for 10 minutes, then add it to the milk.
Stir well, then add the egg mixture and continue stirring until thick and smooth.
Finish and set
Remove from heat, fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites, then add salt and vanilla.
Pour into wet molds and cool on ice.
Turn out when firm and serve with cream or soft custard.
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 + 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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Egg + milktop 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).
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 cooled milk and egg mixture into a firm, sliceable shape when chilled.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the texture and add airy body.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the milk mixture and add richness and a smooth custard body.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base that the gelatine sets and the eggs thicken.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dish and balances the richness of the milk and yolks.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be stiffly beaten and folded gently into the warm base so the foam is not deflated; over-stirring collapses the air that gives the cream its light texture.
“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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