Why it works: Milk and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,479 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
Bavarian Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 30 minutes.
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a saucepan until hot.
Add the soaked gelatine to the hot milk and stir until dissolved.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until creamy, then mix with the hot milk.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Finish and serve
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the milk mixture.
Remove from heat, add the sherry, and pour into molds.
Once cold, turn out onto a dish and 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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Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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 cream so it holds its shape when turned out of the mold.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard, adding richness and body to the cream.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiff peaks, they lighten the cream and add airy texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the custard and gelatine are made in.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream and softens the richness of the egg yolks.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites lose their air if overmixed or deflated by heat, so fold gently to keep the cream light. Once the gelatine begins to set, the mixture thickens quickly, so timing matters.
“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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