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Dessert

Vanilla Cream

A custard-like dessert made with cream, corn starch, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Vanilla Cream

Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Vanilla Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cream

  1. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over boiling water.

  2. Mix the corn starch with a little cold milk.

  3. Stir the corn starch mixture into the cream until it boils for 2 minutes.

  4. Add the sugar.

  5. Beat the egg yolks.

  6. Stir the beaten yolks into the mixture.

  7. Stir until thickened, but do not let it boil.

  8. Remove from heat.

Finish with egg whites

  1. Beat the egg whites with 1 teaspoon of sugar until stiff.

  2. Gently fold the egg whites into the cream mixture.

  3. Add the vanilla.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Cream
Provides richness and a smooth, fat-based body to the custard.
Corn starch
Thickens the cream as it heats, giving it a set, spoonable texture.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help thicken the custard when gently heated.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the cream and add airy volume.
White granulated sugar
Sweetens the cream and helps stabilise the beaten egg whites.

The step that matters

Stir until thickened, but do not let it boil. Egg yolks scramble and curdle if overheated, so the custard must be heated gently and removed as soon as it thickens.

“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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