Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a double boiler, heat the milk with the vanilla bean until boiling.
In a bowl, cream together the eggs, ½ cup sugar, and 2 rounded tablespoons flour until light.
Gradually stir the egg mixture into the boiling milk and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add a small pinch of salt and transfer to a stone dish, beating occasionally while it cools to prevent lumps.
Once cool, mix in 1½ pints of cream and ½ cup sugar.
Before freezing, remove the vanilla pod, scraping the seeds into the custard.
Freeze
Prepare ice by pounding it finely in a strong bag and mix with rock salt (3 pints for every gallon of ice cream).
Place the can in the center of the ice tub, secure the lid, and pack ice and salt in layers until full.
Turn the crank for a few minutes, adding more ice as it melts, until the cream is frozen, about 20 minutes.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 as they cook, giving it a smooth, rich body.
- Flour
- Stabilises the custard so it thickens without curdling and resists lumps.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and softens the texture by lowering the freezing point.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which makes the ice cream rich and creamy rather than icy.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs and flour thicken into custard.
- Vanilla bean
- Provides the vanilla aroma and flavour through its seeds and pod.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard after adding the egg mixture. Eggs thicken as they heat but can scramble if the mixture boils too hard or is added too fast. Stirring steadily while cooking keeps the custard smooth.
“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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