Why it works: Vanilla and raspberry work together. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 950 recipes. Both carry ethyl benzoate, which smells fruity, sweet. The science ↓
Vanilla Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the filling
Melt the butter in a copper saucepan.
Crush the lump sugar and stir it into the melted butter.
Grate half a lemon over the mixture for added flavor.
Stir until the sugar is melted and the mixture thickens.
Gradually pour the mixture into the beaten eggs while stirring continuously.
Use only the yolks of double the number of eggs for a richer mixture.
If too rich, add a grated Savoy biscuit.
Fill and bake
Put a little preserve in the pastry first, then fill the patty pans nearly to the top.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Serve hot or cold.
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.
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Vanilla + raspberrytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together950 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + brandytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Brandy + raspberrytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together235 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-hex-3-en-1-ol (freshly cut grass green and herbaceous notes).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Set the filling as they cook, giving it structure and a rich body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the filling and dissolves into the butter to give a smooth base.
- Vanilla sugar
- Adds sweetness and a vanilla aroma throughout the filling.
- Raspberry or red currant jelly
- Adds fruity sweetness and acidity beneath the set filling.
The step that matters
Pour the butter mixture into the eggs gradually. Pour the warm mixture into the beaten eggs slowly while stirring constantly. Adding it too fast can scramble the eggs, because egg proteins set with heat and curdle when hot liquid meets them in large amounts.
Swap the raspberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, vanilla, brandy):
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Peachfits about as well
- Raspberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, vanilla, brandy. 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.
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