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 ↓
Spinach Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the yolks of the eggs with a wooden spoon or whisk until well combined.
Add sugar to the yolks and mix until sweetened to your taste.
In a saucepan, combine the yolk mixture with the stick of cinnamon and heavy cream.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cinnamon + creamtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,510 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cream):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonthe original
- Tarragonfits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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