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
Soak the gelatine in a little cold water for 30 minutes.
Make the cream
Place the soaked gelatine over boiling water and add the coffee and sugar.
Stir until the gelatine is fully dissolved, then remove from heat.
Stir in the cold cream and strain the mixture into a wet mold.
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 structure once chilled.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture and mellows the set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and balances the bitterness of the coffee.
- Coffee
- Provides the main flavour and aroma of the dish.
The step that matters
Dissolve the gelatine fully before adding the cream. Gelatine must melt completely into the hot liquid; undissolved granules leave a grainy or weak set. Removing from heat before adding the cold cream keeps the mixture from cooling unevenly and helps it set smoothly.
“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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