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 ↓
Italian Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cheese
Mix the sugar, lemon juice, white wine, and cream in a bowl.
Beat the mixture with a whisk until thick, about 30 minutes.
Line a hair sieve with muslin and pour the thickened cream into it.
Let it drain for 12 hours.
Serve
Turn it out and garnish with flowers.
Optionally, use a tin shape with holes for molding.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
White wine + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,760 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + creamtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,640 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Cream
- Forms the body of the cheese and sets into a soft, spreadable texture as it thickens and drains.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that curdles and firms the cream, giving the cheese a tangy flavor.
- Pounded loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the lemon juice.
The step that matters
Beating until thick. Whisking incorporates air and thickens the cream before draining; if it is under-beaten, the cheese will be runny and may not hold its shape when turned out.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, white wine, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, white wine, 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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.