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Hokey-pokey Ice Cream

A gelatin-based ice cream made with milk, sugar, condensed milk, corn starch, and vanilla flavor.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Hokey-pokey Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in hot water.

  2. Mix the corn-starch with a little milk to form a paste.

  3. In a large pot, heat the milk and sugar until boiling.

  4. Pour the hot milk mixture over the corn-starch paste and stir until smooth.

  5. Return to heat, stir, and bring to a boil again.

Finish and freeze

  1. Remove from heat and add the condensed milk and remaining milk.

  2. Stir in the dissolved gelatine and vanilla flavor.

  3. Strain the mixture and freeze 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.

  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. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Corn + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  5. Sugar + condensed milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Gelatine
Sets and firms the mixture so it freezes with a smooth, stable texture.
Corn-starch
Thickens the milk base so it becomes creamy and holds together.
Sugar
Sweetens the base and lowers its freezing point for a softer texture.
Condensed milk
Adds sweetness, milk solids and body for a rich, creamy result.

The step that matters

Pour the hot milk mixture over the corn-starch paste and stir until smooth. Corn-starch clumps if it meets hot liquid without being stirred constantly, and lumps will not smooth out later. Adding the hot milk gradually while stirring lets the starch disperse evenly before it thickens.

“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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