Name: Chocolate-Dipped Ice Cream Sandwiches
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients: Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 1 cup all purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; Pinch of salt; 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces; 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar; 2 tablespoons golden syrup (such as Lyle’s) or light corn syrup; 2 large egg yolks; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 2/3 cups premium ice cream (such as dulce de leche or banana), softened; 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped; 3 tablespoons vegetable oil; Assorted decorations (such as chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, toffee bits, and cacao nibs); Even easier: Make sandwiches with your favorite cookies and ice cream. Dip in the melted chocolate, then decorate.; Test-kitchen tip: If you use a soft ice cream (such as dulce de leche), the sandwiches can be served directly from the freezer. If made with a firmer ice cream, they’ll need to soften at room temperature for about ten minutes.

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

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.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Banana	1 medium (118g)	105
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Ice Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Syrup	not in our table	0
Dulce De Leche	not in our table	0
Nuts	not in our table	0
Toffee	not in our table	0

Chocolate-Dipped Ice Cream Sandwiches