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 ↓
Strawberries with Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the strawberries in a colander.
Drain them well and let them dry.
Remove the stems from the strawberries.
Keep the strawberries cool until serving.
Serve
Serve the strawberries with sugar and cream on the side for guests to add as desired.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor, juice, and fresh texture of the dish.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tartness of the strawberries.
- Heavy cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy contrast to the fruit.
The step that matters
Drain the strawberries well and let them dry. Excess water left on washed strawberries dilutes their flavor and makes the cream slide off or thin out. Drying them thoroughly keeps the fruit concentrated and lets the cream and sugar cling properly.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.