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 ↓
Spanish Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a double boiler.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar.
When the milk boils, remove it from the heat.
Stir in the egg yolk and sugar mixture.
Return to the heat and stir until it thickens slightly.
Dissolve the gelatin in a little hot water on the stove, allowing it to boil once.
Stir the dissolved gelatin into the custard.
Set the mixture on ice or fill the bottom of the double boiler with ice or snow.
Flavor and set
Once cool but not stiff, stir in the sherry, additional sugar, vanilla, and rose extract.
When the custard is thick enough to hold a spoon, gently fold in the beaten egg whites all at once.
Fill cups or molds with the mixture.
Turn out onto a dish when fully set.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sherry + vanillatop 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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Vanilla + rosetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together456 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base that the custard sets from.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken the custard and whites add lightness when folded in.
- Gelatin
- Sets the custard so it holds its shape when turned out.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps balance the egg flavor.
- Sherry
- Adds aroma and a mild wine flavor to the custard.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only if they are beaten well and folded in gently while the custard is thick but not stiff. Stirring hard or adding them too early or too late deflates the foam and makes the texture heavy or uneven.
“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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