Why it works: Rose and brandy work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 560 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Rose Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil the milk and sweeten it.
Add the rose brandy.
Stir the yolks into the milk over low heat until it thickens.
Pour the custard into a bowl.
Let the custard cool.
Poach the egg whites
Drop the egg whites into the boiling milk by the tablespoon.
Turn the egg whites gently until just set.
Carefully lift the poached egg whites out.
Place the poached egg whites on a sieve to drain.
Assemble and serve
Place the poached egg whites on top.
Garnish with sprinkles or candied peel.
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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Rose + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together560 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + rosetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,249 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, setting gently as the yolks thicken it.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the milk into a smooth custard as they gently cook over low heat.
- Egg whites
- Poach into soft, delicate clouds that float on top of the custard.
- Rose brandy
- Adds a floral aroma and flavour to the custard.
The step that matters
Stir the yolks into the milk over low heat until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken at gentle heat and can scramble if the custard gets too hot or boils. Low heat and constant stirring keep it smooth.
“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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