Why it works: Cream and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,130 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓
Almond Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cream
Dissolve the saccharine in 1 teaspoon of water.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Add the dissolved saccharine and chopped almonds to the whipped cream.
Set and serve
Melt the gelatine in a saucepan with a little water.
Strain the melted gelatine into the cream mixture and stir well.
Pour the mixture into small dariole moulds rinsed with cold water, or one larger mould if preferred.
Refrigerate until firm, then turn out to serve.
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.
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Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Whipped to form the light, airy body of the dessert.
- Sheet gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when turned out.
- Almonds
- Add nutty flavour and a little texture to the cream.
- Saccharine
- Provides sweetness in place of sugar.
The step that matters
Strain the melted gelatine into the cream mixture and stir well. Gelatine must be fully melted and evenly mixed through the cream; any lumps or uneven distribution can leave pockets that do not set, and cream that is too cold can cause the gelatine to seize into threads.
“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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