Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Bavarian Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Soften the gelatine in cold water.
Mix the orange juice, sugar, and slightly beaten egg yolk.
Cook the mixture over hot water until it thickens like a soft custard.
Pour the custard over the softened gelatine.
Strain the mixture.
Set and mould
Set aside in a cool place, stirring occasionally.
When partially set, beat until foamy.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg white.
Turn the mixture into a mold lined with pieces of lady finger.
Chill until firm.
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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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the custard into a firm, sliceable body as it cools.
- Egg
- Thickens the custard when cooked, and the whipped white lightens the set cream.
- Orange juice
- Supplies the main flavour and liquid base of the cream.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream and balances the acidity of the juice.
The step that matters
Cook the mixture over hot water until it thickens like a soft custard. Egg yolk thickens when heated gently; too much heat scrambles it into lumps. Gentle, indirect heat over water keeps the custard smooth.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, egg):
- Orangethe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Limefits less well
- Raisinfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sugar, egg. 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.
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