Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Blackberry Mush
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the puree
Wash the blackberries and place them in a pot with ½ cup of water.
Stew the berries until soft, then rub them through a sieve.
Cook the mousse
In a double boiler, combine the berry puree with 1 scant cup of farina and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Cook for 45 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened.
Chill and serve
Pour the mixture into a wetted mold and refrigerate until very cold.
Serve with sugar and cream.
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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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
What each ingredient does
- Blackberries
- Provide the main flavour, colour and the fruit pulp that gives the mousse its body.
- Farina
- Thickens the puree as it cooks, giving the mousse its set and smooth texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tartness of the blackberries.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a soft, creamy contrast when served with the mousse.
The step that matters
Cooking the farina in the double boiler. Farina thickens as its starch swells in hot liquid. Gentle heat from the double boiler, with frequent stirring, prevents scorching and lumps while the mixture thickens evenly.
“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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