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 ↓
Coffee Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 30 minutes.
Make the coffee cream
Place the soaked gelatine over boiling water and add the hot coffee and sugar.
Stir until dissolved, then remove from heat.
Stir in the cold cream and strain into a mold that has been wet with cold water.
Refrigerate until cold, then turn out to serve.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream into a firm, sliceable structure as it cools.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture to the set dessert.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the coffee and balances its bitterness.
- Strong coffee
- Provides the main flavour of the dessert.
The step that matters
Dissolving the gelatine over boiling water. Gelatine must dissolve fully into the liquid to set evenly; undissolved granules leave a grainy or weak texture. Adding the cream only after removing the mixture from heat keeps the cold cream from cooling and seizing the gelatine before it is evenly mixed.
“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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