Skip to main content
Dessert

Velvet Cream

A chilled gelatin-based dessert made with custard, whipped cream, and flavored with sugar and optional vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Velvet Cream

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Velvet Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve ½ box of gelatine in 1 quart of milk with 3 egg yolks on the stove, stirring until it thickens to a soft custard.

  2. Let the mixture cool, then beat 3 egg whites until frothy.

  3. Add 6 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of flavoring to the egg whites and mix well.

  4. Combine the egg white mixture with the custard.

  5. Pour the mixture into a mold.

  6. Refrigerate until set.

Make the second layer

  1. Boil ½ box of gelatine with 2 cups of orange juice until dissolved.

  2. Stir in 1 cup of sugar.

  3. Mix with 1 pint of whipped cream and vanilla.

  4. Pour into molds.

  5. Refrigerate until firm.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Gelatine
Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable body as it chills.
Egg yolks
Thicken the hot milk mixture into a soft custard and add richness.
Egg whites
Whipped to froth, they add a light, airy texture to the set dessert.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the gelatine and egg yolks thicken.
Whipped cream
Adds richness and a soft, creamy body to the second layer.
White sugar
Sweetens the dish and balances the flavor of the eggs and dairy.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard on the stove. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently, but too much heat can scramble them. Keep stirring over low heat until the custard just coats a spoon.

“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 velvet cream recipes

Strawberry 3 See all 115 →

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes