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 ↓
Caramel Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel base
Melt the sugar until brown.
Dissolve the gelatin in a little milk and add it to the melted sugar.
Stir in the milk until well mixed.
Thicken and finish
Add the beaten egg yolks and stir over heat until thick.
When cool, fold in the whipped cream and serve cold or hot.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Sugar
- Melted to brown, it gives the cream its caramel flavour and sweetness.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they heat, giving the cream body and richness.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Whipped cream
- Folded in at the end, it adds lightness and fat for a softer texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the sugar, yolks and gelatine are combined in.
The step that matters
Add the beaten egg yolks and stir over heat until thick. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently, but if they get too hot they can curdle and turn grainy. Stirring steadily over moderate heat keeps the custard smooth.
“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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