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 ↓
Tea Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Put the black tea into a saucepan with boiling cream and let it steep to extract flavor.
Strain the mixture through a cloth, pressing to extract all liquid into a bowl.
Add whipped cream, isinglass, and sweeten to taste; mix well.
Pour into a mold and let it set until firm.
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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Black tea + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together113 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Black tea + creamtop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Black tea
- Provides the main flavor, infused into the hot cream during steeping.
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream as it cools.
- Whipped cream
- Adds lightness and a soft, airy texture to the set cream.
- Boiling cream
- Carries the tea flavor and gives the dessert its rich, creamy base.
The step that matters
Pour into a mold and let it set until firm. Isinglass sets only as the mixture cools and firms, so the cream must be fully mixed and given enough time to chill before it is unmolded. Rushing this leaves a soft, unset cream.
“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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