Why it works: Lemon and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Take out a pint from two quarts of very rich thick cream.
Stir gradually into the pint a pound of the best loaf‑sugar powdered fine, and the grated rind and juice of four ripe lemons of the largest size, or of five or six smaller ones.
If you cannot procure the fruit, flavor the cream with lemon essence or oil; a teaspoonful or more, according to its strength.
After mixing the pint of cream with the sugar and lemon, beat it gradually and hard into the remaining three pints of cream.
Cover the mixture and let it stand to infuse for half an hour to an hour.
Taste it, and if necessary, stir in a little more lemon juice or a little more sugar.
Strain the mixture into the freezer through a fine strainer (a tin one with small close holes is best) to remove grated lemon peel.
Freeze
Cover the freezer and place the mixture in an ice cream tub filled with equal parts coarse salt and finely broken ice.
Pack the mixture closely into the tub and press it down hard.
Keep turning the freezer by the handle until the cream is frozen, usually about two hours.
Occasionally open the lid and scrape down the cream from the sides with a long‑handled tin spoon.
Take care that no salt gets in, or the cream will be spoiled.
When the cream is entirely frozen, remove it from the freezer and put it into your mould; set it again in the tub filled with fresh ice and salt, and leave it undisturbed.
If you have no moulds and intend to serve it in a large bowl or glasses, freeze the ice cream twice over.
For the second freezing, wash out the freezer, set the mixture again in the tub with fresh ice and salt, cover it closely, and let it stand untouched for at least two hours.
Timing and serving
Begin making ice cream about five or six hours before it is needed.
If you start too early, the ice cream may be damaged by remaining too long in the second freezing; it should not be turned out until a few moments before serving.
When putting the ice cream into glasses, heap it high on the top.
If cream is scarce, mix it with an equal quantity of rich milk, and then add, for each quart, two tablespoonfuls of powdered arrow‑root rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| 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.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + lemontop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,640 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,640 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
- Cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the frozen ice cream a smooth, creamy texture.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream soft and scoopable.
- Lemons
- Supply acidity and aroma from the juice and grated rind, giving the flavor its lemon character.
The step that matters
Packing and turning the freezer. Cream must freeze quickly and evenly while being churned, so the salt and ice must stay in the tub and out of the cream. Salt in the mixture spoils it, and scraping the sides keeps ice crystals small for a smooth texture.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, 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.
More lemon ice cream recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.