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Dessert

Brandy Cream

A custard-like dessert made with cream, milk, almonds, eggs, sugar, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Brandy Cream

Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓

Brandy Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil the almonds in the milk until tender.

  2. Once cooled, add the beaten yolks of the eggs and 2 teaspoons of cream, then sweeten to taste.

  3. Gradually stir in the brandy while mixing continuously.

  4. Pour in the cream and place the mixture in a double saucepan over boiling water.

  5. Stir until it thickens, ensuring it does not boil.

Cool and serve

  1. Continue stirring in the same direction until it cools, then pour into glasses.

  2. Serve once cold.

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.

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  2. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,635 recipes

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

  4. Cream + almondtop 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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the cream as they set gently with heat, giving it body.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving the finished dessert a smooth, creamy texture.
Milk
Provides liquid and dairy solids that make the base softer and more fluid.
Brandy
Adds alcoholic flavour and aroma to the custard.

The step that matters

Stir until it thickens, ensuring it does not boil. Egg yolks set into a smooth custard at moderate heat; if the mixture boils, the proteins curdle and the texture turns grainy and thin.

“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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