Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Orange Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Whip 1 pint of heavy cream until reduced by half.
Soak ½ package of gelatine in ½ cup of cold water.
Grate the rind of 2 oranges and add it to the gelatine along with 1 cup of sugar.
Make the custard
In a double boiler, combine ½ pint of unwhipped cream and 6 beaten egg yolks.
Stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken, then add the gelatine mixture.
Remove from heat and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
Add the juice of 2 oranges and sugar, then beat until thick like boiled custard.
Chill and serve
Fold in the whipped cream until well combined.
Pour into molds and refrigerate to harden.
Serve with sweetened 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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Cream + orangetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Heavy cream
- Whipped for volume and unwhipped for richness, giving the dessert a light yet creamy body.
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled in molds.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard base and add richness through their proteins and fat.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dessert and balances the acidity of the orange juice.
- Oranges
- Supply citrus aroma and acidity from the rind and juice.
The step that matters
Stir the egg yolk custard constantly. Egg yolk proteins thicken with gentle heat but can scramble if overheated or left unstirred, leaving lumps. Stopping once it begins to thicken keeps the custard smooth.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, egg. 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.
More orange cream recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipes
Orange Custard56 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.