Skip to main content
Dessert

Velvet Cream

Velvet Cream is a chilled dessert made with isinglass, milk, sugar, lemon rind, sherry, brandy, and double cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Velvet Cream

Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Velvet Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in the milk over low heat.

  2. Rub the sugar on the rind of a lemon after wiping it with a damp cloth.

  3. Add the sherry and brandy to the sugar.

  4. Whip the double cream until frothy.

Make and set

  1. Strain the dissolved isinglass into the whipped cream, add the other ingredients, and mix well.

  2. Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until cold, then turn out and serve.

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. Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  3. Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

  5. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
Double cream
Provides richness and a light, airy body when whipped.
Milk
Carries the isinglass so it dissolves evenly before blending.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and takes up lemon oil from the rind.
Sherry
Adds wine flavour and a mild acidity to the cream.

The step that matters

Strain the dissolved isinglass into the whipped cream. Isinglass must be fully dissolved and still warm and liquid when added, or it will form lumps or streaks. Cold gelatin-like agents set quickly and unevenly, so the mixture should be blended gently and promptly to keep it smooth before chilling.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, sherry, brandy, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, sherry, brandy, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

More velvet cream recipes

Strawberry 3 See all 115 →

You might also like

Lemon CakeLemon Cake228 recipesLemon IceLemon Ice147 recipesLemon SherbetLemon Sherbet103 recipesBrandy PeachesBrandy Peaches68 recipes