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Dessert

Spanish Cream

A custard dessert made with water, isinglass, cream or milk, egg yolks, white wine, and sugar.

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

Spanish Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cream base

  1. Boil the water and dissolve the isinglass in it.

  2. Strain the mixture.

  3. Mix it with the cream or milk.

  4. Stir over heat until it comes to a boil.

Finish and set

  1. Once slightly cooled, gradually add the beaten egg yolks and white wine.

  2. Pour the mixture into a deep dish.

  3. Sweeten with sugar.

  4. Stir until cold.

  5. Put into a shape.

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

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

  2. Cream + white winetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,760 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  4. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,586 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Cream and egg 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

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream as it cools into a sliceable shape.
Egg yolks
Enrich the cream and thicken it slightly when gently heated, adding richness and body.
Cream or milk
Provides the fat and body that give the set dessert its creamy texture.
White wine
Adds acidity and a light aroma that balances the richness of the cream.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the cream to taste.

The step that matters

Adding the egg yolks. If the mixture is too hot when the beaten yolks go in, they can scramble and turn grainy. Letting it cool slightly and adding the yolks gradually, while stirring, 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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