Name: Another Kind of Ice Cream
Ingredients: one pound of loaf sugar; two ounces of sweet almonds; two eggs; one table-spoonful of flour; two lemons; two table-spoonfuls of cold milk; salt

Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Another Kind of Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

Take half of the milk and add the chosen flavoring ingredient (vanilla, almonds, or grated lemon rind).
Boil the mixture, stirring in sugar gradually.
Beat the eggs well, then add two tablespoons of cold milk to the beaten eggs.
Pour the egg mixture into the boiling milk.
Simmer for two or three minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and strain the mixture through muslin into a pan.
Add the cream and the remaining milk to the pan.

Freeze and finish

Place the mixture in a tin freezer, which should be set in a tub filled with ice and scattered with salt.
Squeeze juice from lemons and stir into the mixture gradually while it is freezing.
When fully frozen, remove the tin, first dipping it briefly in warm water.
If desired, stir strawberry or raspberry juice gradually into the mixture while it is freezing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

750Calories

28 gProtein

15 gFat

124 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Salt	1 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 Eliza Leslie. 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.

Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,655 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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).
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

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 base as they heat, adding richness and body.
Sugar: Sweetens the base and keeps the frozen cream softer.
Milk: Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken.
Lemons: Add acidity and bright lemon aroma to the cream.
Almonds: Add nutty aroma and flavor to the base.
Flour: Helps thicken the base and keeps the custard smooth.

The step that matters

Simmer the egg mixture gently while stirring constantly. Egg proteins set when heated, so stirring constantly over gentle heat keeps the custard smooth and thickened instead of scrambled or lumpy.

Swap the lemon

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

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, almond, egg, flour, milk. 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.

Lemon Cake228 recipes

Lemon Ice147 recipes

Lemon Sherbet103 recipes

Lemon Custard64 recipes

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Another Kind of Ice Cream