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Dessert

Russian Cream

A chilled custard dessert made with milk, eggs, sugar, cream, gelatin, vanilla, rose brandy, and maraschino.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Russian Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dissolve the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of cold water.

  2. Add 4 tablespoons of boiling water and set aside.

  3. Heat the milk in a skillet.

Make the custard

  1. Carefully add the beaten yolks of the eggs and the sugar, stirring constantly until it thickens into a custard.

  2. Add half of the dissolved gelatin.

  3. Let it cool slightly.

Combine and chill

  1. Whip the cream until very stiff.

  2. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

  3. Quickly mix in the remaining gelatin.

  4. Slowly pour the custard into the cream while beating continuously.

  5. Add the vanilla, rose brandy, and maraschino.

  6. Pour into a glass dish.

  7. Refrigerate for at least 10 hours before serving.

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

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

  2. Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

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

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

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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the milk into a custard, and whipped whites add lightness to the cream.
Gelatin
Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
Cream
Whipped until stiff, it gives the dessert a light, rich body.
Milk
Forms the base of the custard that the rest of the dessert is built on.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the flavors.

The step that matters

Slowly pour the custard into the cream while beating continuously. Adding warm custard too fast or without constant beating can deflate the whipped cream and cause uneven texture. Gradual blending keeps the mixture smooth and airy while the gelatin begins to set it.

“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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