Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 30 minutes.
Place the soaked gelatine over boiling water.
Make the cream
Add the coffee and sugar to the gelatine and stir until dissolved.
Remove from heat and stir in the cold cream.
Strain the mixture into a wet mold.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable cream when chilled.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the set dessert a smooth, creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the coffee and balances its bitterness.
- Strong coffee
- Provides the main flavour of the dessert.
The step that matters
Stirring the cold cream in after removing from heat. Cream added while the gelatine is still very hot can dilute the mixture and weaken the set, while letting it cool too much before adding can cause the gelatine to begin setting in lumps. Removing from heat first keeps the gelatine fluid and evenly mixed.
“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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