Why it works: Hazelnut and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 279 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Hazelnut Cream
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a warm oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the nuts
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Spread hazelnut kernels on a baking sheet and dry in the warm oven.
Once dry, rub the nuts between two coarse towels to remove the skins.
Pound the nuts into a paste with the egg white.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, make a custard by whisking together the egg yolks and milk over low heat until thickened.
Dissolve the gelatin in the water and mix it with the powdered sugar.
Add the gelatin mixture to the custard when it is nearly cold.
Stir in the nut paste until well combined.
Finish and set
Whip the heavy cream until solid and fold it into the mixture.
Flavor with vanilla extract, then mold and refrigerate until set.
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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Hazelnut + vanillatop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together279 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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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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Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Hazelnut kernels
- Provide the main nutty flavor and the body of the paste.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness through their emulsifying proteins.
- Gelatin
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Heavy cream
- Whipped to add airiness, fat and a light, creamy texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cream and dissolves easily into the gelatin mixture.
The step that matters
Add the gelatin mixture when the custard is nearly cold. If the custard is still hot, the gelatin may not set properly or the mixture can separate, while adding it too late may cause it to set in lumps before blending. Cooling the custard to nearly cold keeps the gelatin evenly dispersed so the cream sets smooth.
Swap the hazelnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, gelatin, sugar, cream, vanilla):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Hazelnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, gelatin, sugar, cream, vanilla. 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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