Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the coffee base
Grind the coffee medium fine and place it in a fine muslin bag.
In a double boiler, combine the coffee bag with half of the cream and heat until scalding.
Once the coffee strength is extracted, remove the bag and add the sugar.
Finish and serve
Cool the mixture, then add the remaining cream and freeze.
Serve with whipped cream if desired.
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.
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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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Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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 texture.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer and scoopable.
- Mocha and java coffee
- Supplies the coffee flavour that infuses into the hot cream.
The step that matters
Heating the coffee bag in the cream. Heating until scalding draws flavour out of the grounds, but overheating can scorch the cream and make the coffee taste bitter or burnt. Keep the heat controlled and steady.
“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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