Why it works: Milk and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,479 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
Spanish Cream
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
Dissolve the gelatine in 1 pint of cold milk.
In 2 quarts of boiling milk, stir in 1½ cups of sugar and the beaten egg yolks.
Pour the boiling mixture over the dissolved gelatine, stirring well.
When cold, add ½ pint of sherry and the juice of 1 lemon.
Top and serve
Transfer to a dish and cover with the beaten egg whites.
Place in a 400°F (200°C) oven to brown.
Serve cold.
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 + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sherry + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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 liquid custard so it holds its shape when cold.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and enrich the custard, adding richness and structure.
- Egg whites
- Whipped or beaten, they form a light topping that browns in the oven.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base that the gelatine sets and the yolks thicken.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the sherry and lemon.
The step that matters
Pour the boiling mixture over the dissolved gelatine, stirring well. Egg yolks can scramble if they meet very hot liquid without being stirred in gradually. Stirring well keeps the custard smooth, and the gelatine must be fully dissolved so the dessert sets evenly when cold.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, sherry):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Pineapplefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, sherry. 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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