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 ↓
Coffee Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the nearly boiling milk, stirring until thickened.
Stir in the sugar and let it cool slightly.
Dissolve the gelatine in 1 tablespoon of water and add it to the custard.
Finish and set
Whip the cream until stiff and fold it into the custard when nearly cold.
Add the coffee essence and pour into a prepared mold.
Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the milk into a custard and add richness.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when unmolded.
- Cream
- Whipped to add lightness and a smooth, airy texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the egg yolks thicken into custard.
- Castor sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the coffee flavour.
The step that matters
Fold the whipped cream in when the custard is nearly cold. If the custard is still hot, it can melt the whipped cream and deflate it, and if it is too cold the gelatine may start to set in lumps before mixing. Folding gently at nearly cold keeps the mousse light and evenly set.
“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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