Why it works: Brandy and rum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Tom and Jerry
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, salt, and vanilla to make a custard.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Freeze
Half freeze the custard mixture.
Stir in the rum and brandy, then finish freezing until solid.
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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Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,058 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + rumtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together728 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set during gentle cooking and add richness.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the texture of the frozen custard.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture in the frozen result.
- Brandy
- Alcohol lowers the freezing point, keeping the custard softer when frozen.
- Rum
- Alcohol lowers the freezing point, keeping the custard softer when frozen.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Egg yolks scramble if the heat is too high or stirring stops, leaving lumps. Gentle, constant stirring lets the yolk proteins thicken the custard evenly into a smooth base.
“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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