Name: Frozen Custard
Ingredients: 1 quart milk; 6 or 8 egg yolks; a pinch of salt; 1 cup sugar; 1 tablespoon rosewater; a dash of rum or vanilla; 1 pint cream

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 ↓

Frozen Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Heat the milk in a saucepan.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with salt and sugar.
Pour the warm milk over the egg mixture and blend well.
Heat the mixture on the stove until well combined, then cool.
Before freezing, stir in the beaten egg whites, rosewater, and rum or vanilla.
For added richness, mix in the cream before freezing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Milk + rumtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together967 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,908 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

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