Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Almond Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Heat 1 pint of cream almost to boiling, then add sugar and stir until melted.
Add the almonds and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand covered for 10 minutes, then strain the mixture.
Thicken and finish
Return the strained mixture to the heat and stir in the corn-starch for 5 minutes.
Beat lightly with an egg whisk, then gradually add the remaining cream.
Freeze the mixture.
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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Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Corn + almondtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together485 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Corn + orangetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together586 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the ice cream a smooth, creamy body.
- Corn-starch
- Thickens the base when heated, giving the ice cream a smoother, less icy texture.
- Sweet almonds
- Supply the main almond flavour and some fat to the base.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a concentrated almond aroma and flavour to the base.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
The step that matters
Stirring in the corn-starch. Corn-starch thickens only when the mixture is hot enough and stirred while heating. If it is added cold or left unstirred, it can clump or fail to thicken, leaving a grainy or thin base.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, corn, almond):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, corn, almond. 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.
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