Name: Milk and Honey of the Egyptians, Iced
Ingredients: 1 pint certified milk; 1 pint pure cream (or 1 quart certified milk); 2 egg yolks; 10 ounces pure filtered honey; 2 egg whites

Why it works: Milk and honey are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,336 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity. The science ↓

Milk and Honey of the Egyptians, Iced

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

Beat the yolks of the eggs in a bowl.
Add the honey to the beaten yolks and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk and honey mixture.
Add the milk and cream (or just milk) and mix thoroughly.

Freeze

Freeze the mixture until solid.

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.

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.

Milk + honeytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,336 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + honeytop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together738 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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: Add richness and emulsify the mixture for a smooth, creamy texture.
Egg whites: Whipped to stiff peaks, they add airiness and a light, lifted texture.
Honey: Adds sweetness and a soft texture by keeping ice crystals small when frozen.
Milk: Provides the liquid base and dairy flavor of the frozen dessert.
Cream: Adds fat for a richer, smoother frozen texture.

The step that matters

Fold in the egg whites gently. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the dessert its lightness. Vigorous stirring deflates the foam, leaving a denser, less airy result.

“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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Milk and Honey of the Egyptians, Iced