Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Sherry Flip
fills twelve ordinary custard glassesIngredients
Directions
Prepare
Blanch and chop the almonds.
Combine the chopped almonds and cream in a jug.
In another jug, mix the sherry, lemon juice, and enough sugar to sweeten to taste.
Froth and serve
Pour the mixture rapidly from one jug to the other until well frothed.
Pour into individual glasses, enough to fill twelve ordinary custard glasses.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Almond + sherrytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together517 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Sherry + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Provides the rich body and fat that the froth is built on.
- Sherry
- Adds its own sweetness and aroma to the flavour of the drink.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the sherry and sugar.
- Almonds
- Contribute nutty flavour and a little texture to the chopped pieces.
The step that matters
Pouring rapidly between the jugs. Pouring fast and from a height traps air into the cream, which is what creates the froth. Slow pouring gives a flat, thin mixture instead of a light, frothy one.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, almond, sherry, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, almond, sherry, sugar. 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
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipes