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Dessert

Spanish Cream

A custard made with water, isinglass, cream or milk, egg yolks, wine or lemon peel, and sugar.

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

Spanish Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Boil the water and dissolve the isinglass in it.

  2. Strain the mixture.

  3. Mix the dissolved isinglass with the cream or milk.

  4. Stir over heat until it comes to a boil.

Finish and set

  1. Once slightly cooled, gradually add the beaten egg yolks and white wine or lemon peel.

  2. Pour into a deep dish.

  3. Sweeten with pounded sugar.

  4. Stir until cold.

  5. Transfer to a mold and refrigerate until set.

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.

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

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

  2. Cream + white winetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,760 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. White wine + sugartop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,586 recipes

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

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream into a sliceable custard as it cools.
Cream or milk
Provides the body, richness and fat that give the cream its smooth texture.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help thicken and emulsify the cream into a smooth custard.
White wine or lemon peel
Adds acidity and aromatic flavor that brightens the richness of the cream.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the richness and acidity of the dish.

The step that matters

Adding the egg yolks. Yolks must be added after the mixture has cooled slightly and gradually stirred in. Adding hot liquid quickly can scramble the eggs, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth set cream.

“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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