Name: Caramel Ice Cream
Ingredients: 1 cupful sugar v2 cupful flour 2 eggs 1 pint milk beat eggs; 1 pint milk beat eggs; 2 cupful sugar; 1 quart cream; 2 eggs 1 pint milk beat eggs

Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓

Caramel Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 cupful sugar v2 cupful flour 2 eggs 1 pint milk beat eggs
1 pint milk beat eggs
2 cupful sugar
1 quart cream
2 eggs 1 pint milk beat eggs

Directions

Make the custard

Beat eggs, sugar and flour together and stir into boiling milk.
Cook until custard thickens.

Caramelize and freeze

Caramelize 2 cupful sugar and stir it into the custard when done and while both are hot.
When cool, add 1 quart cream, strain into freezer and freeze.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

782Calories

28 gProtein

20 gFat

121 gCarbs

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.

By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Flour and milk 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

Eggs: Thicken the custard as their proteins set during cooking.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the custard.
Sugar: Sweetens the custard and, caramelized, adds deep toasted flavor.
Flour: Thickens the custard as its starch swells in hot liquid.
Cream: Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture in the frozen ice cream.

The step that matters

Cook until custard thickens. Egg proteins set at moderate heat, but too much heat makes them curdle and turn grainy. Stir steadily and cook only until the custard coats a spoon.

“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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Caramel Ice Cream