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 almond base
Boil the blanched almonds and the pounded bitter almonds in the milk.
When cold, mix in the beaten egg yolks and cream, then sweeten.
Add the brandy and mix well.
Thicken and serve
Pour in the thin cream and heat gently without boiling, stirring until thickened.
Pour into cups or low glasses and let cool before serving.
Optionally, add a ratafia-drop to each serving.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness as they set with gentle heat.
- Thin cream
- Adds richness and body, and thickens with gentle heating into a smooth cream.
- Brandy
- Adds a strong aroma and flavour that cuts through the cream's richness.
- Blanched almonds
- Infused in the milk to give a nutty almond flavour to the base.
The step that matters
Heat gently without boiling. Egg yolks thicken at low heat but curdle and turn grainy if boiled. Stirring while heating keeps the cream smooth and evenly set.
“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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