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 ↓
Brandy Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Boil the blanched and pounded bitter almonds in the milk.
Let the mixture cool, then add the beaten egg yolks and cream.
Sweeten to taste and mix in the brandy.
Thicken and serve
Pour in the thin cream and heat gently without boiling, stirring until it thickens.
Pour into cups or low glasses and let cool before serving.
Optionally, add a ratafia-drop in each glass.
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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Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream as they gently set when heated, giving a smooth, rich body.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a strong almond aroma and flavour to the milk infusion.
- Brandy
- Adds alcoholic warmth and a distinct aromatic flavour to the cream.
- Thin cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the custard a smooth, creamy texture.
The step that matters
Heat gently without boiling. Egg yolks thicken by gentle heat; if the mixture boils, the proteins scramble and the cream turns grainy instead of smooth and thick.
“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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