Why it works: Raisin and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,324 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Swiss Creams
Ingredients
Directions
Assemble
Layer the macaroons in a glass dish.
Pour enough raisin wine over the macaroons to soak them.
Add the custard
Prepare the custard according to package instructions and let it cool.
Pour the cooled custard over the soaked macaroons.
Garnish and serve
Once completely cold, garnish with pieces of bright colored jelly.
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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Raisin + winetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,324 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroons
- Form the base layer and soak up the wine, giving the dessert its body and soft texture.
- Raisin wine
- Moistens the macaroons and adds a sweet, fruity flavor to the layers.
- Custard
- Forms the creamy top layer that sets as it cools, adding richness and smoothness.
The step that matters
Let the custard cool before pouring it over the macaroons. Hot custard would soften the macaroons too much and can keep the layers from setting cleanly. Cooling it first helps it firm up into a distinct cream layer.
“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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