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 ↓
Renter, or Junket
Ingredients
Directions
Make the junket
Heat the milk until lukewarm.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Add the rennet and mix well.
Pour the mixture into glasses.
Leave in a moderately warm place until firm.
Chill and serve
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg and serve with 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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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 body of the dessert once the rennet sets it.
- Liquid rennet
- Enzymes coagulate the milk proteins, turning the liquid into a soft, firm set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the milk and balances its mild flavour.
The step that matters
Keep the milk lukewarm when adding the rennet. Rennet works best at lukewarm temperatures. If the milk is too hot, the enzyme can be weakened or destroyed and the junket may fail to set; if it is too cold, setting is slow and weak.
“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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