Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Sweet Macaroni
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the macaroni
Boil the macaroni in water until tender but not broken.
Drain the macaroni and combine it with cream or milk, sugar, and flavoring.
Thicken and serve
Simmer the mixture until it thickens, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
Carefully transfer to a dish and serve with fresh or preserved fruit.
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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Cream + sugartop 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
- Macaroni
- Provides the bulk and starchy body that the sweet cream mixture clings to.
- Cream or milk
- Supplies liquid and fat that become a creamy, thickened sauce as it simmers.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps flavor the cream as it reduces.
The step that matters
Simmering the mixture until it thickens. Cream and milk thicken as water evaporates and proteins and starch set, but they scorch easily on the bottom of the pan. Stirring often spreads the heat and keeps the sugar and dairy from catching and turning bitter.
“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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