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 ↓
Tea Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse and strain
Boil 2 teaspoons of good green tea in 1 quart of milk.
After a few minutes, strain the mixture.
Thicken and serve
Add 3 beaten egg yolks and ¼ pound of powdered sugar.
Heat the mixture until it reduces to half, then strain it again.
Let it cool before serving.
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.
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Green tea + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together51 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Green tea + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together159 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Green tea
- Gives the cream its tea aroma and a subtle bitter edge.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and adds richness and body as it reduces.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream as they gently set with heat and add richness.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cream and dissolves easily into the warm liquid.
The step that matters
Heating the mixture after adding the egg yolks. Egg yolks thicken by gently setting with heat. If the mixture gets too hot or boils, the yolks can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture. Heat gently and stir while it reduces.
“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 tea cream recipes
You might also like
Green Corn Pudding14 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 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.