Why it works: Syrup and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 192 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the gelatin in the water for 10 minutes, then dissolve it over low heat.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
In a bowl, combine the whipped cream, sugar, custard, and sliced ginger.
Stir in the ginger syrup and the dissolved gelatin.
Pour the mixture into a mold rinsed with cold water.
Once firm, dip the mold in warm water for 1 minute and turn it out onto a cold dish.
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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Syrup + gelatintop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together192 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup, cream, gelatin):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Peppermintfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup, cream, gelatin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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