Skip to main content
Dessert

Vanilla Cream

A custard made from eggs, milk, gelatin, and vanilla, folded into whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Vanilla Cream

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Vanilla Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of 3 eggs and 1 white in a basin with a wooden spoon.

  2. Stir in ½ pint of milk and pour the mixture into a jug.

  3. Fill a saucepan half full of hot water and bring it to a boil.

  4. Once boiling, move the saucepan to the side of the heat.

  5. Place the jug of custard in the saucepan and stir until it thickens to a cream-like consistency.

  6. When thickened, remove the jug from the water and let it cool.

Add the gelatine and cream

  1. Soak ½ ounce of gelatine in a small saucepan with ¼ cup of cold water.

  2. Heat the saucepan and stir until the gelatine is completely melted.

  3. Strain the melted gelatine and stir it into the custard.

  4. Whip ½ pint of double cream in a basin until stiff.

  5. Add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon of essence of vanilla to the whipped cream.

  6. Once the custard is cool, gently fold it into the whipped cream.

Set in a mold

  1. Scald a 1½ pint mold with hot water, then rinse with cold water.

  2. Pour the mixture into the mold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the custard as they set with gentle heat, giving it body.
Gelatine
Sets the custard so it holds its shape when turned out of the mold.
Double cream
Whipped into stiff peaks, it adds lightness and richness to the set custard.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds creaminess.

The step that matters

Thickening the custard over gentle heat. Egg proteins set at temperatures near simmering; if the water boils too hard or the custard is overheated, the eggs can curdle and turn grainy. Stir steadily and keep the water below a boil.

“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.

More vanilla custard recipes

Cups 4Sauce 3 See all 35 →

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes