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 ↓
Coffee Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine
Soak gelatine in cold water for 30 minutes.
Place gelatine over boiling water.
Make the cream
Add coffee extract and sugar; stir until gelatine dissolves.
Remove from heat and stir in whipped cream.
Strain mixture into a mold wet with cold water.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable cream once chilled.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and a light, airy texture when whipped into the mixture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the coffee and balances its bitterness.
- Coffee extract
- Gives the cream its coffee flavour.
The step that matters
Stir the gelatine fully into the warm coffee mixture. Gelatine must dissolve completely before the whipped cream goes in. Undissolved granules leave a grainy texture and uneven setting, and overheating weakens its setting power.
“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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