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Dessert

Russian Cream

A custard dessert made with milk, sugar, gelatin, eggs, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Russian Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the custard

  1. In a large pot, combine the fresh milk and sugar.

  2. Dissolve the gelatin in a small amount of the milk.

  3. Add the dissolved gelatin to the milk mixture along with the beaten eggs.

  4. Heat the mixture until it begins to boil, then remove from heat.

Set and serve

  1. Allow the mixture to cool completely, then fold in the beaten egg whites.

  2. Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until set.

  3. Serve with cream if desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Gelatin + vanillatop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together924 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 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

Fresh milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and provides most of its creamy body.
Gelatin
Sets the liquid cream so it holds its shape when chilled in a mold.
Eggs
Thicken the custard when heated and add richness; whites are folded in for lightness.
Sugar
Sweetens the cream and balances its richness.

The step that matters

Remove from heat as soon as it begins to boil. Eggs thicken when heated but scramble if overheated, leaving lumps. Stopping at the first boil keeps the custard smooth and silky.

“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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