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 ↓
Orange Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Remove the rind from the oranges and squeeze out the juice.
Combine the juice, water, and sugar in a saucepan.
Make the cream
Mix in the beaten egg whites and heat over medium heat, stirring until thick and white.
Strain through a cloth and stir until cool.
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the mixture along with some cream.
Heat gently until ready to boil, then pour into a bowl.
Stir until completely cool, then transfer to glasses.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Orange + creamtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Seville oranges
- Provide the juice and acidity that give the cream its tart flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the orange juice.
- Egg whites
- Whisked into the hot mixture to thicken it and give it a light, white texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the mixture and help it set into a smooth, thick cream when heated.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, softening the citrus and giving a smoother texture.
The step that matters
Heat gently until ready to boil. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated, so the mixture should be heated slowly and stirred. Gentle heat lets the yolks thicken it smoothly.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, 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.
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