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 ↓
Delicious Junket
Ingredients
Directions
Set the junket
Warm the milk on the stove to about boiling.
Pour the milk into a glass or china bowl.
Stir in the prepared rennet, powdered sugar, and pale brandy.
Let it stand until cold.
Serve
Serve with sugar and rich cream.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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 + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- New milk
- Forms the body of the junket, as its proteins set into a soft curd.
- Prepared rennet
- An enzyme that clots the milk into a delicate, spoonable set.
- Pale brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm, spirited flavour.
- Rich cream
- Adds richness and a smooth fat-based mouthfeel when served.
The step that matters
Stirring in the rennet. Rennet is an enzyme that works best at mild warmth and is weakened by boiling heat. Adding it to very hot milk can stop the set, so the milk should be warm rather than hot, and it should be left undisturbed while it sets.
“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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