Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil the milk in a double boiler.
In a bowl, mix the flour and 1 cup of sugar; add the eggs and beat until light.
Stir the egg mixture into the boiling milk and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often.
Make the chocolate and finish
Chop the chocolate and place it in a small saucepan.
Add 4 tablespoons of sugar (from the second cup) and 2 tablespoons of hot water to the chocolate.
Stir over heat until smooth and glossy, then add to the cooking mixture.
After 20 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the remaining sugar and cream gradually.
Let the mixture cool, then freeze.
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.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour 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 as they set with heat, giving the base body.
- Flour
- Stabilises the custard so it thickens smoothly without curdling.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs and flour thicken.
- Thin cream
- Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture in the frozen ice cream.
- Chocolate
- Provides the flavour and, with fat, a smooth, rich body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and softens the freezing texture.
The step that matters
Cooking the egg mixture into the boiling milk. Egg proteins set with heat and can scramble if the mixture is too hot or stirred too little. Stirring often during the 20 minutes keeps the custard smooth and evenly thickened.
“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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