Why it works: Vanilla and sherry work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 506 recipes. Both carry piperonal, which smells bitter, coconut. The science ↓
Whipped Cream
Ingredients
Directions
In a mixing bowl, combine the chilled heavy cream and powdered sugar.
Using a Dover egg beater, whip the cream for about 5 minutes until stiff.
Add the vanilla extract and sherry, and mix gently.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.
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.
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Vanilla + sherrytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together506 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Cream + sherrytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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
- Heavy cream
- Whipped into air bubbles that hold the foam and give it body.
- Egg whites
- Add airy lightness and extra structure when folded into the whipped cream.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cream and dissolves easily into it without graininess.
The step that matters
Whipping the cream until stiff. Overwhipping cream past stiff peaks causes the fat to separate and turn grainy or buttery. Stop as soon as the peaks hold their shape, and keep the cream cold while whipping to help it stay stable.
“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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