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Dessert

Swiss Cream

A custard made from milk, lemon rind, isinglass, cream, egg yolks, sugar, almonds, and preserved ginger.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Swiss Cream

Why it works: Lemon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Swiss Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cream

  1. Heat the milk slowly with the lemon rind.

  2. Add the isinglass and cream, then let it boil.

  3. Remove from heat and strain the mixture.

  4. When cool, stir in the beaten egg yolks and sugar.

  5. Cook over low heat until it begins to thicken.

Set and serve

  1. Add the almonds and preserved ginger, then pour into a mold.

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. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Almond + gingertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

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 as it cools.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness through their proteins and fat.
Cream
Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard.
Almonds
Add crunch and nutty flavor against the smooth cream.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat until it begins to thicken. Egg yolks set at temperatures close to boiling and can curdle or turn grainy if overheated, so gentle heat keeps the custard smooth.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, lemon, cream, egg, sugar, almond):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, lemon, cream, egg, sugar, almond. 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.

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