Skip to main content
Dessert

Bohemian Cream

A chilled strawberry and cream dessert set with isinglass, served from a mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Bohemian Cream

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 ↓

Bohemian Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Rub the strawberries through a sieve.

  2. Add the sugar and lemon juice.

  3. Dissolve the isinglass in water and mix it with the strawberry mixture.

  4. Set the vessel on ice, stirring until it begins to set.

  5. Whip the cream to a light froth and stir it into the strawberry mixture.

Set and serve

  1. Fill a mold with the mixture and let it set on ice until ready to serve.

  2. To serve, plunge the mold into warm water for an instant, wipe it dry, and turn out the cream onto a dish.

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

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

  2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + creamtop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,640 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and lemon 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

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the cream so it holds its shape when turned out.
Cream
Whipped to a light froth, it adds richness and an airy, soft texture.
Strawberries
Provide the main flavor and color, and their pulp gives body to the cream.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and balances the tartness of the fruit and lemon.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the strawberry flavor and sharpens the sweetness.

The step that matters

Setting the mixture on ice. Isinglass sets only as the mixture cools, so it must be chilled gradually while stirring. If it sets unevenly or is poured in too early, the cream can separate or lose its airy texture. Cool it to just the point of thickening before adding the cream and filling the mold.

Swap the lemon

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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.

You might also like

Lemon CakeLemon Cake228 recipesLemon IceLemon Ice147 recipesLemon SherbetLemon Sherbet103 recipesLemon CustardLemon Custard64 recipes