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Dessert

Ice Cream

A frozen dessert made from milk, cream, eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla or lemon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Ice Cream

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Scald the milk in a saucepan, but do not boil.

  2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch.

  3. Combine the scalded milk with the egg mixture, stirring well.

Whip and fold

  1. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  2. Fold the whipped egg whites into the cream.

Finish and freeze

  1. Mix the milk and cream mixture, add flavoring, and freeze.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

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

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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

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

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

Milk
Provides the liquid base and dairy richness for the custard.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set gently with heat, adding richness and smoothness.
Sugar
Sweetens the base and softens the texture of the frozen result.
Cornstarch
Stabilizes the custard, helping it thicken smoothly without curdling.
Cream
Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture and a creamy mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Combining the scalded milk with the egg mixture. Hot liquid added to egg yolks can scramble them if added too quickly. Adding it gradually while stirring well, and keeping heat moderate, lets the yolks warm gently and thicken smoothly, as cornstarch and yolk proteins set together.

“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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