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Dessert

Brandy Cream

A custard-like dessert made with almonds, milk, egg yolks, cream, sugar, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Brandy Cream

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

  1. Boil the blanched and pounded bitter almonds in the milk.

  2. Once cold, mix in the beaten egg yolks and cream, then sweeten.

  3. Add the brandy and mix well.

Thicken and serve

  1. Pour in the thin cream and heat gently without boiling, stirring continuously until thickened.

  2. Pour into cups or low glasses and let cool before serving.

  3. Optionally, add a ratafia drop to each serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,635 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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 set on gentle heat, giving a smooth, rich body.
Brandy
Adds its own alcohol and aroma, flavouring the cream throughout.
Thin cream
Forms the bulk of the custard, providing richness and a creamy mouthfeel.
Bitter almonds
Infuse the milk with a distinctive almond aroma and flavour.

The step that matters

Heating the cream gently without boiling. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but boiling can curdle or scramble them, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth custard. Continuous stirring spreads the heat evenly.

“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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