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Drink

Coffee Punch

A chilled coffee-based beverage with cream, sugar, brandy or rum, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓

Coffee Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Mix together the black coffee, heavy cream, and sugar.

  2. Freeze the mixture.

Finish and serve

  1. Once frozen, mix in the brandy or rum and the whipped cream.

  2. Let it stand for 30 minutes.

  3. Stir well before serving.

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.

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

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

  2. Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,635 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  3. Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,339 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,344 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Black coffee
Forms the flavor base and gives the punch its coffee character.
Heavy cream
Adds richness and a smooth, creamy body to the frozen mixture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and softens the texture of the frozen mixture.
Brandy or rum
Adds aroma and flavor, and keeps the frozen mixture from freezing rock-hard.
Whipped heavy cream
Adds lightness and an airy, fluffy texture to the punch.

The step that matters

Stir well before serving. A partly frozen mixture forms ice crystals and separates as it sits. Stirring it thoroughly redistributes the liquid and cream, restoring a smooth, even texture.

“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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