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 Gelatine
Ingredients
Directions
Make the coffee
Pour boiling water over the coarsely ground coffee.
Steep for 5 minutes, then strain the coffee.
Set the gelatin
Soak the gelatine according to the package directions until soft.
Mix the softened gelatine with the hot coffee and add sugar to taste.
Heat the mixture until it is almost boiling, then mix well.
Pour into molds or cups rinsed in cold water.
Serve
Serve with whipped cream and zwieback or Nabisco.
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 coffee liquid into a firm, sliceable gel as it cools.
- Coarsely ground coffee
- Provides the coffee flavour and bitterness that defines the dessert.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the bitterness of the coffee.
The step that matters
Heating the gelatine mixture. Gelatine must be fully dissolved in the warm coffee before pouring; if it is left undissolved or boiled hard, it may not set evenly or firmly.
“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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