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 ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Combine three pints of cream and half pint of new milk.
Heat the milk on the stove, adding five tablespoons sugar and one tablespoon flour, stirring with some of the cream.
When the mixture boils, pour it into the milk.
Strain while hot and mix with the cream.
Beat well when cold with an egg beater or syllabut churn, flavor to taste and freeze.
Make the custard
Combine two quarts of cream and three pints of new milk.
Heat the milk over the fire, adding two tablespoons of flour dissolved in it, one tablespoon of gelatin, and one-third tablespoon of a vanilla bean cut up.
Cook for two hours.
Take from the fire, add the yolks of three eggs while hot, strain through a thin cloth.
Whip the cream, add the whites of three eggs whipped to it, and add to the milk, which must be cold.
Sweeten to taste.
Freeze with fruit
Make cream as directed above.
Prepare fruit by mashing or cutting into small pieces, and sweetening to taste.
After the cream begins to freeze, put in fruit and finish freezing.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Cream
- Provides richness and fat, giving the frozen ice cream a smooth, creamy texture.
- New milk
- Adds liquid and milk solids that build the base and soften the final texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
- Flour
- Thickens the base as it heats, giving body to the custard.
- Gelatin (in the method)
- Stabilizes the custard, helping it hold a smooth, set texture after freezing.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and thicken the custard; whipped whites add lightness and airy texture.
The step that matters
Add the yolks while hot, then strain. Egg yolks scramble if they meet very hot liquid without being tempered, which leaves grainy specks. Adding them off the heat and straining catches any cooked bits, keeping the custard smooth.
“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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