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Strawberry Cream

A chilled strawberry custard made with isinglass to set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Strawberry Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the strawberry base

  1. Put the strawberries in a saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice.

  2. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

  3. Add the milk and bring to a boil.

  4. Strain through a fine sieve.

Set and chill

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in the water.

  2. Combine the dissolved isinglass with the strawberry mixture.

  3. Whisk until it begins to set.

  4. Pour into a wetted mold.

  5. Chill in ice or a cool place until ready to serve.

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. Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream as it cools.
Milk
Adds richness and a creamy texture to the strawberry base.
Strawberries
Provide the main flavour, colour and fruit body of the cream.
Sugar
Sweetens the strawberries and balances the tartness of the lemon.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the strawberry flavour.

The step that matters

Whisking as it begins to set. Isinglass sets quickly as it cools, so whisking at the right moment keeps the mixture smooth and evenly textured. If it firms too far before pouring, lumps and a grainy texture can form.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar. 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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