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 ↓
Another Way to Make Coffee Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cream
Dissolve the isinglass in a small amount of water.
Boil the dissolved isinglass with the cream.
Mix in the strong coffee.
Sweeten with pounded white sugar to taste.
Whisk for a few minutes until well combined.
Serve
Serve in custard cups, optionally perfumed with essence of cedrat.
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 + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream as it cools.
- Cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the coffee cream a smooth, velvety body.
- Strong coffee
- Supplies the coffee flavour and a bitter note that balances the sugar.
- Pounded white sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the coffee.
The step that matters
Boil the dissolved isinglass with the cream. Isinglass must be fully dissolved and evenly distributed in hot cream to set properly. Undissolved clumps leave gritty patches, and uneven heating can leave the cream unevenly firm once it cools.
“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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