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 ↓
Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Combine one pint of new milk, two eggs, one teacupful of grated chocolate, two coffee cupfuls of powdered sugar, one teaspoonful of corn starch, and one teaspoonful of vanilla extract in a saucepan.
Beat the eggs and stir them into the milk mixture.
Add the corn starch and sugar to the mixture.
Heat the mixture, letting it come to a boil.
Remove the saucepan quickly from the heat.
Stir the mixture continuously until smooth.
Finish and freeze
When the mixture is perfectly smooth, mix it with the eggs and milk.
Add the three pints of cream and vanilla.
If not sweet enough, add more sugar.
When the mixture is cold, put it in the freezer.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| 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.
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 + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard base as they set with gentle heat, giving body to the ice cream.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture that resists ice crystals.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard and helps keep the ice cream smooth.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and some fat for richness.
The step that matters
Heating the custard without curdling. Eggs thicken when heated but can scramble if the mixture gets too hot or boils too long. Removing the pan promptly and stirring until smooth keeps the custard silky before it is combined with the cream.
“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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