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 Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the jelly
Soak the gelatin in cold water for 30 minutes.
Heat the coffee to boiling point and sweeten to taste.
Add the dissolved gelatin to the coffee and stir well.
Strain the mixture into a mould rinsed with cold water.
Set and serve
Set the mould on ice or in a very cool place until set.
Serve with whipped cream.
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 coffee liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Strong black coffee
- Provides the main flavour and liquid base of the jelly.
The step that matters
Add the dissolved gelatin to the coffee and stir well. Gelatin must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed into the hot coffee, or it will set unevenly and leave soft or rubbery patches in the jelly.
“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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