Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Caramel Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel base
Boil 2 cups of dark brown sugar with an egg-sized piece of butter and ⅔ cup of thin sweet cream.
After 12 minutes of boiling, dissolve ½ cup of gelatine in a little cold water.
Add the dissolved gelatine to the boiling mixture along with 1 cup of sweet cream, reserving ⅔ cup.
Finish and set
Strain the mixture and flavor with 1 tablespoon of vanilla.
Pour into a pudding mold and let it stand overnight in the ice.
Serve with whipped cream.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, 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
- Dark brown sugar
- Provides sweetness and the deep caramel flavor as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, rounding out the caramel flavor.
- Sweet cream
- Contributes fat and a smooth, creamy texture to the set dessert.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid mixture into a firm, sliceable body.
The step that matters
Dissolve the gelatine fully before adding it. Gelatine must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed into the hot liquid. Undissolved granules leave gritty or rubbery spots and an uneven set once chilled.
“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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