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Dessert

Imperial Cream

A creamy dessert made from rice, milk, sugar, wine, gelatin, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Imperial Cream

Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Imperial Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rice

  1. Wash the rice.

  2. Cook it in 1 quart of cold water until it boils.

  3. Pour off the water.

  4. Transfer the rice to a double boiler with 1 pint of milk.

  5. Boil for 1 hour.

Finish and set

  1. Remove from heat.

  2. Add 1 cup of sugar.

  3. Add 4 tablespoons of wine.

  4. Add ½ teaspoon of salt.

  5. Add ½ box of gelatin that has soaked in ½ cup of cold water for 2 hours.

  6. Set the mixture aside until cold.

  7. Stir in 1 pint of whipped cream.

  8. Serve with Tutti Frutti or sun‑dried strawberries.

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. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

  5. Milk + winetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (fenugreek, curry).

Milk and sugar 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

Rice
Starch that cooks down with the milk to thicken the base and give the cream its body.
Milk
Supplies the liquid and milk solids that make the cooked base creamy and rich.
Sugar
Sweetens the cream and adds softness to its flavour.
Gelatin
Sets the cooled mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
Whipped cream
Adds fat and air, lightening the texture and softening the set.

The step that matters

Add the gelatin after the mixture is removed from heat. Gelatin must be fully dissolved and evenly stirred into the base; if the mixture is too hot or left unstirred, it can set unevenly or lose its setting power.

“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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