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Dessert

Jelly, Cream

A gelatinous dessert made from water, hartshorn shavings, cream, rose or orange‑flower water, sherry, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Jelly, Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jelly

  1. Combine 3 pints of water and ¼ pound of hartshorn shavings in a saucepan.

  2. Boil gently until the liquid sets to a jelly.

  3. Take a spoonful to test; let it cool.

  4. Strain the mixture.

Add the cream and set

  1. Add ½ pint of cream, 2 tablespoons of rose or orange‑flower water, 2 tablespoons of sherry, and 2 ounces of sifted sugar.

  2. Boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent curdling.

  3. When cool, pour into a damp mold and turn out as soon as it is stiff.

  4. Pour ½ pint of flavored cream over the jelly before serving.

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. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Cream + sherrytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  3. Rose + sherrytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together73 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,141 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Rose + sugartop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,584 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

Hartshorn shavings
Gelling agent that sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture to the jelly.
Sugar
Sweetens the jelly and balances the flavorings.

The step that matters

Boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Once cream is added, constant stirring and gentle heat keep the dairy from curdling or catching on the pan base. Vigorous boiling can split the cream and leave the texture grainy, so the heat must stay low and steady.

“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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