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.
Stir until the mixture thickens, then add the sugar and cool slightly.
Finish and set
Dissolve the gelatine in 1 tablespoon of water and add it to the custard.
Whip the cream until stiff and fold it into the custard when nearly cold.
Add the coffee essence and pour into a prepared mold.
Let the mold set in the refrigerator.
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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Sugar + coffeetop 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 smooth custard as they set with gentle heat.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so the dessert holds its shape when unmolded.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a light, airy texture when whipped and folded in.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and softens its flavour.
- Castor sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the coffee flavour.
The step that matters
Fold the whipped cream in when nearly cold. If the custard is still warm, the whipped cream deflates and the mixture loses its airy texture. If it is too cold, the gelatine begins to set in lumps before the cream is evenly blended.
“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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