Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Spanish Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Soak the gelatine in the sweet milk and heat until the gelatine is completely melted.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined.
When the milk is scalding but not boiling, stir in the beaten egg yolks.
Finish and set
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Gently fold the beaten whites into the mixture.
Strain the mixture into moulds and let it 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 + 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).
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 mixture into a firm, sliceable custard as it cools.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the milk and add richness and a smooth, custard-like body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a froth, they lighten the texture and give the cream a airy finish.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps balance the richness of the yolks and milk.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air, which gives lightness. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam, so the whites should be folded in gently and evenly before the mixture begins to set.
“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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