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 ↓
Bavaroise De Cocoa a LA Moderne
Ingredients
Directions
Make the almond praline
Melt sugar in a copper pan until very hot.
Stir in blanched almonds for a few minutes.
Spread almonds on a dish to cool.
Pound cooled almonds to a puree, saving a few to mince roughly.
Finish the bavaroise
Stir the hot almond puree into the custard, then strain and whip.
Add dissolved gelatin and whipped cream, mixing well.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Caramelises into the praline that gives the bavaroise its nutty sweetness.
- Blanched almonds
- Provide the nutty flavour and a fine texture once pounded into the custard.
- Rich custard
- Forms the creamy base that the other ingredients are folded into.
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Whipped cream
- Adds lightness and a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Melting the sugar until very hot. Sugar that is overheated or burnt turns bitter and dark, and the caramel flavour can overpower the custard. Watch closely and stop once it is hot and amber-coloured.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream):
- Almondthe original
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Hazelnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipes
Coconut Almond Cake17 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.