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
Make the custard
Make ½ pint of custard with the eggs and milk.
Make the mixture
Dissolve the gelatine and sugar in the coffee.
Add the custard and strain the mixture.
Whip the cream and stir it lightly into the custard when cool.
Pour the mixture into a mold and set it.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard and add richness and structure to the set cream.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Cream
- Adds fat and a light, airy texture when whipped and folded in.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding richness and softness.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the coffee.
- Coffee
- Gives the dish its main flavour and aroma.
The step that matters
Stir the whipped cream into the custard only when the custard is cool. If the custard is still warm, it can deflate the whipped cream and thin the mixture, so the set becomes softer and less airy. Cooling first keeps the cream's air and the gelatine's setting firm.
“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 coffee cream recipes
You might also like
Coffee Ice Cream91 recipes
Coffee Custard27 recipes
Coffee Cake21 recipes
Coffee Bavarian Cream14 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.