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 ↓
Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Flavour the milk
Split up half a vanilla bean.
Boil it slowly in half a pint of milk until all the flavour is drawn out.
Make the base
Mix half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar into the milk.
Stir the mixture very hard into a quart of rich cream.
Freeze
Put the mixture into the freezer and freeze twice as directed in the Lemon Ice Cream recipe.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Milk
- Carries the vanilla flavour and forms the liquid base of the custard-like mixture.
- Powdered loaf-sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the texture by lowering the freezing point.
- Rich cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, creamy texture and a rich mouthfeel.
- Vanilla bean (in the method)
- Provides the main vanilla aroma and flavour as it steeps in the milk.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture very hard into the cream. Thorough blending evenly distributes the sugar and flavoured milk through the cream, so the ice cream freezes smooth and free of streaks or pockets of sweetness.
“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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