Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Somersetshire Syllabub
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the base
Combine port, sherry, powdered sugar, and grated nutmeg in a large bowl.
Strain warm milk and pour it from a height into the bowl with the wine mixture.
Top and serve
After 20 minutes, cover the mixture with clotted cream.
Garnish with nonpareil confetti before serving.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
-
Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Sherry + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,246 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Port
- Provides the sweet, fortified wine flavour and acidity that form the base.
- Sherry
- Adds dry wine flavour and acidity to balance the sweetness of the port and sugar.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the wine base and dissolves easily into the liquid.
- Warm milk
- Its proteins curdle in the wine's acid, forming soft, light curds that give the dessert body.
- Clotted cream
- Adds richness and fat, forming a thick layer on top of the mixture.
The step that matters
Pour the warm milk from a height into the wine mixture. The wine's acid curdles the milk on contact. Pouring from a height spreads the milk into the wine and breaks it into fine, airy curds, which gives the dessert its light texture.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, sugar, milk, cream):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits less well
- Macefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, sugar, milk, cream. 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 syllabub recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 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.