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Dessert

Tipsy Parson

A sponge cake soaked in sherry, topped with a thickened milk custard, almonds, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Tipsy Parson

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cake

  1. Moisten the sponge cake with sherry.

  2. Layer the moistened sponge cake in a glass dish.

Make the custard

  1. In a saucepan, combine milk, egg yolks, and cornstarch.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.

  3. Pour the hot custard over the cake.

Top and serve

  1. Sprinkle blanched almonds generously on top before serving.

  2. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar. Fold in the heavy cream until well combined.

  3. Serve on top of the cake.

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.

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

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

  2. Sherry + almondtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together517 recipes

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

  3. Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sponge cake
Forms the base layer that soaks up the sherry and custard.
Sherry
Moistens the sponge cake and adds a fruity, aromatic flavor.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, giving it a smooth, pourable body.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard when heated, giving it a rich, creamy set.
Cornstarch
Thickens the milk mixture into a stable, spoonable custard.
Heavy cream
Adds fat and lightness, giving the topping a rich, airy texture.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard until thickened. Egg yolks and cornstarch thicken milk as it heats, but overheating can curdle the eggs or leave the custard thin. Stir constantly over medium heat and stop once it coats a spoon.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, milk, egg, sugar, cream):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Cocoafits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits less well
  4. Walnutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, milk, egg, sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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