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 ↓
Ratafia Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse the cream
Boil the cream with the laurel or nectarine leaves.
Strain the mixture and let it cool.
Thicken and finish
Beat and strain the egg yolks, then add them to the cooled cream.
Stir in sugar and brandy.
Heat the mixture gently, stirring continuously until it thickens.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Cream
- Provides richness and body, giving the custard its smooth, creamy texture.
- Laurel or nectarine leaves
- Infuse the cream with a subtle almond-like aroma during boiling.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream as their proteins set when gently heated.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the richness of the cream and yolks.
- Brandy
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour that defines the ratafia character.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture gently, stirring continuously until it thickens.. Egg yolk proteins set at moderate heat. If the heat is too high or stirring stops, the yolks can scramble and turn grainy, so the cream must be heated slowly and stirred constantly.
“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.
You might also like
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Brandy Cream21 recipes
Brandy Pudding13 recipes
White Cake431 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.