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 ↓
Italian Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Combine 1 cup of cream, 1 cup of milk, loaf sugar to taste, and the rind of 1 lemon in a saucepan.
Boil slowly until the lemon flavor is infused, then strain into a bowl and mix in the beaten egg yolks.
Thicken and set
Pour the mixture into a jug and place it in boiling water, stirring until thickened without boiling.
Remove from heat, let cool, then stir in the lemon juice and dissolved isinglass.
Whip the cream until fluffy.
Mold and serve
Drain the whipped cream on a sieve if serving in glasses.
If using a mold, fill the mold with whipped cream and chill until set.
Turn out onto a glass dish and garnish with crystallized or preserved fruits.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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
- Cream
- Whipped, it becomes an airy, rich texture that gives the dessert its body.
- Egg yolks
- Gentle heat thickens them into a smooth custard that holds the dessert together.
- Isinglass
- A gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and mild richness to the custard base, softening the flavor.
- Loaf sugar
- Provides sweetness that balances the tart lemon and rich cream.
- Lemon juice
- Adds bright acidity that lifts the flavor of the rich custard.
The step that matters
Thicken the custard without boiling. Egg yolks curdle and turn grainy if they get too hot. Gentle heat in boiling water thickens them smoothly, so the mixture should never be allowed to boil.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, milk, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, milk, 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.
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