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Dessert

Italian Cream

A custard dessert made with milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and gelatin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Italian Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gelatin

  1. Soak the gelatin in just enough milk to dissolve it; place on the back of the stove for 1 hour.

Make the custard

  1. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil, then stir in the well-beaten yolks and sugar.

  2. Cook until it thickens like cream, stirring constantly.

  3. Remove from heat and add cream, dissolved gelatin, beaten egg whites, and vanilla.

Set and chill

  1. Pour into a mold and chill on ice.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

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

  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. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Gelatine
Sets the liquid custard into a firm, sliceable texture as it cools.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard when cooked; whites add lightness to the finished dish.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing body and creaminess.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving a smoother, softer mouthfeel.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the richness of the dairy.

The step that matters

Cook until it thickens like cream, stirring constantly. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated or left unstirred. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly so the custard thickens smoothly rather than turning grainy.

“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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