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Dessert

Vanilla Cream

A custard made by boiling vanilla in cream, enriched with egg yolks, sweetened, clarified, and set in molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Vanilla Cream

Why it works: Vanilla and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Vanilla Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil the vanilla in 1 pint of cream for nearly 1 hour.

  2. Add ½ pint more cream and the beaten egg yolks.

  3. Sweeten with sugar to taste.

Strain and set

  1. Pass the mixture through a tammy twice.

  2. Add a small amount of isinglass.

  3. Set the mixture in a mold or cups to chill.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Vanilla + eggtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together27,347 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Vanilla
Infuses the cream with its aroma while it boils.
Cream
Provides fat and body for a rich, smooth texture.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness as it sets.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard to taste.
Isinglass
Sets the cream into a firm custard as it chills.

The step that matters

Adding the beaten egg yolks. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat and can scramble if they meet very hot cream. Keep the heat moderate and stir steadily so the yolks blend into a smooth, thickened custard.

“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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