Name: Caramel Ice Cream No. 1
Ingredients: 1 pint of milk; 1 pint of cream; 1-1/2 tablespoonfuls of scraped chocolate; half cupful of water into a saucepan; a cupful of sugar; 3 whole eggs

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 ↓

Caramel Ice Cream No. 1

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

Scald the milk.
Add the milk slowly to the beaten eggs.
Add the chocolate.
Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly until the custard coats the spoon.

Add the caramel and freeze

Add the hot caramel.
When the mixture is perfectly cold, add the whipped cream and freeze.

Make the caramel

Put a cupful of sugar with a half cupful of water into a saucepan.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Let it cook until a golden color, not longer, or it will blacken.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

482Calories

16 gProtein

27 gFat

43 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
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
Water	not in our table	0

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

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

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

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 they cook gently, giving the base its body.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the custard, carrying the eggs and chocolate.
Cream: Adds fat and richness, giving the frozen ice cream a smooth texture.
Sugar: Provides sweetness and, when cooked, forms the caramel flavor.
Chocolate: Adds flavor and deep color to the custard base.

The step that matters

Let the caramel cook until golden, not longer. Sugar darkens quickly near the end of cooking. Once it passes golden it turns bitter and can blacken, so it should be removed from heat at the right color.

“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 No. 1