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 ↓
Bohemian Jelly Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the strawberry jelly
Remove the stalks from the strawberries and bruise them slightly.
Combine the strawberries, sugar, isinglass, and water in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Strain the syrup through a jelly bag or fine cloth into a basin and set aside to cool.
Whip and set
When the syrup is just becoming a light jelly, whip the cream to stiff peaks.
Add the strawberry jelly to the whipped cream, spoon by spoon, while beating continuously.
Avoid adding any sediment from the bottom of the basin to the cream.
Beat the mixture for about 10 minutes until very thick, then mix in the cochineal thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into a well-wetted mold and place it in a cool place to set, preferably on ice.
Make this several hours 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.
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
- Strawberries
- Provide the main flavour and the fruit base that is strained into the jelly.
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that turns the strained syrup into a light jelly.
- Cream
- Whipped to stiff peaks, giving the dessert its light, airy, rich texture.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the strawberry syrup and adds body to the jelly.
- Cochineal
- Adds a red colour to the finished cream.
The step that matters
Add the jelly to the cream at the right stage. The syrup must be just beginning to thicken into a light jelly before it is folded into the whipped cream. If it is too liquid, the cream will deflate. If it has already set firm, it will not blend smoothly. Adding it spoon by spoon while beating keeps the foam stable and the mixture even.
“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.