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Dessert

Rhenish Cream

A custard made with isinglass, sugar, water, citrus rinds and juice, egg yolks, wine, and optional almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Rhenish Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Dissolve isinglass and loaf sugar in boiling water and let it cool.

  2. Add the grated rind and juice of the orange and lemon.

  3. Stir in the yolks of the eggs and light wine, then gently boil while stirring until just about to boil.

  4. Pour into a damp mold and let it set in a cool place.

Add the almonds

  1. Blanch and pound the sweet and bitter almonds.

  2. Soak the almonds in cold water for an hour.

  3. Add the almonds to the mixture along with 2 more egg yolks.

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. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,157 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Orange + winetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,046 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

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream so it holds its shape when cool.
Egg yolks
Enrich the cream and thicken it gently when heated, adding richness and a smooth texture.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the citrus juice.
Citrus juice
Adds acidity and bright flavor that cut through the richness of the yolks.
Light wine
Adds flavor and liquid, contributing aroma and a mild acidity to the cream.
Sweet almonds
Add nutty flavor and a creamy, slightly textured body when pounded into the mixture.

The step that matters

Gently boiling after adding the yolks. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated. Stirring constantly and stopping just before boiling lets the yolks thicken the mixture smoothly without cooking into lumps.

“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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