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Dessert

Caramel Ice Cream

A frozen dessert made from milk, cream, sugar, honey, salt, egg, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,800 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Caramel Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a saucepan, combine 1 quart cream, 2 cups milk, 2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 tablespoon salt, then whisk in 1 egg.

Make the custard

  1. Mix flour, half of the sugar, salt, and egg; add milk gradually.

  2. When thick, add the remaining part of the sugar that has been caramelized.

  3. Cook for twenty minutes.

Finish

  1. When the custard is cool, add cream and 1 cup chopped almonds.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

234Calories
15 gProtein
14 gFat
13 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. 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. See the original page.

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 + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg
Thickens the custard as its proteins set during gentle cooking, giving the base body.
Flour (in the method)
Stabilises the custard and helps it thicken so it holds structure when frozen.
Sugar (in the method)
Adds sweetness, and caramelized sugar gives the ice cream its deep, toasty flavour.
Cream (in the method)
Adds fat, which makes the frozen ice cream smooth and rich rather than icy.
Almonds
Add crunchy texture that contrasts with the smooth, creamy base.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard gently. The egg thickens the base only as its proteins set, so heat must stay gentle. Too much heat scrambles the egg and leaves the custard grainy or lumpy.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg):

  1. Pecansfits better
  2. Cocoafits better
  3. Peasfits better
  4. Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg. 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.

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