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Dessert

Vanilla Cream

A custard-based vanilla cream made with eggs, milk, gelatine, cream, sugar, and vanilla essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Vanilla Cream

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

  1. Beat the yolks of 2 eggs and 1 white in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

  2. Stir in ½ pint of milk and pour the mixture into a jug.

  3. Fill a saucepan half full of hot water and bring it to a boil.

  4. Once boiling, move the saucepan to the side of the heat.

  5. Place the jug of custard in the saucepan and stir continuously until it thickens.

  6. Remove the jug from the water and let it cool.

Add the gelatine

  1. Soak 1 ounce of gelatine in 2 tablespoons of cold water.

  2. Heat the gelatine in a small saucepan until melted.

  3. Strain the melted gelatine and stir it into the custard.

Whip the cream

  1. Whisk ½ pint of double cream in a bowl until stiff.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and ½ teaspoon of essence of vanilla to the cream.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

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

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Egg yolks and white
Set the custard as they cook and add richness and structure.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard that thickens with the eggs.
Gelatine
Sets the dessert so it holds its shape when cooled.
Double cream
Whipped to trap air, giving a light, rich texture.
Caster sugar
Sweetens the whipped cream and balances the richness.
Essence of vanilla
Adds the main aroma of the cream.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard over gentle heat. Egg proteins thicken the custard as they warm, but too much heat or too little stirring can scramble them into lumps. Constant stirring over moderate heat spreads the warmth evenly so the custard thickens smoothly.

“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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