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 ↓
Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the strawberries
Mash the strawberries through a colander, mix in the orange juice, and set aside.
Make the base
Whip the eggs and place them over a steam bath with the cream and sugar.
Heat until hot, then remove from heat and cool.
Strain the mixture into a freezing can and freeze.
Finish
Once frozen, mix in the strawberries thoroughly.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Orange + creamtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Eggs
- Whipped eggs help thicken the custard base and give the ice cream a smoother, richer body.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which makes the ice cream rich and creamy and keeps ice crystals small.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer when frozen.
- Fresh strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and moisture, with pulp mixed in after freezing for texture.
- Orange juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the strawberry flavor.
The step that matters
Heating the egg and cream mixture over a steam bath. Heating the eggs gently and only until hot thickens the custard without scrambling it. Overheating can curdle the eggs, leaving a grainy texture in the finished ice cream.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, sugar. 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.
More strawberry ice cream recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.