Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Vanilla Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Make a custard with the milk, 3 egg yolks, and 1 egg white.
Melt the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of water.
Strain the melted gelatin into the custard.
Set and serve
Add the double cream and essence of vanilla, mixing well.
Chill until set and serve.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar and vanilla 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
- Eggs
- Yolks and white thicken the custard as they cook and add richness.
- Gelatine
- Sets the custard as it cools, giving a firm, wobbly texture.
- Double cream
- Adds fat, making the custard richer and smoother.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the eggs thicken.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the richness of the eggs.
- Essence of vanilla
- Adds aroma and flavour.
The step that matters
Strain the melted gelatin into the custard. Gelatine must be fully dissolved and blended evenly into the warm custard, without boiling. Undissolved or unevenly mixed gelatine can leave lumps or weak patches, and the set will be uneven.
“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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