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 ↓
Tea Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the tea syrup
Place 2 ounces of green tea in a teapot and pour on ½ pint of boiling water.
Let it steep for 10 minutes, then pour it over ¼ pound of loaf sugar.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Make the custard
Once cool, beat in the yolks of 3 eggs.
In a saucepan, heat 1½ pints of cream until it boils.
Gradually mix the hot cream into the egg and tea mixture, stirring constantly.
Return the mixture to the heat, stirring continuously until it thickens but does not boil.
Remove from heat and whisk for 1-2 minutes until cool, then pour into a bowl.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Green tea + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together159 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Green tea + creamtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together48 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the cream as they set gently with heat, giving the custard body.
- Cream
- Supplies fat and richness, giving the finished cream a smooth, velvety texture.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the bitterness of the green tea.
- Green tea
- Provides the main flavour and aroma of the cream.
The step that matters
Thickening the custard without boiling. Egg yolks set at low heat, but if the mixture boils they can curdle and turn grainy. Stirring constantly and stopping once it thickens keeps the custard smooth.
“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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