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 base
Chop the chocolate and mix it into the milk until smooth.
Heat the mixture almost to boiling, stirring constantly.
Add the cream and sugar, and continue heating until it thickens.
Cool and freeze
Strain the mixture and let it cool.
Freeze the cooled mixture until solid.
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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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavor and fat, and helps give the finished ice cream a rich body.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which makes the ice cream smooth and creamy rather than icy.
- Whole milk
- Supplies liquid and milk solids that form the base of the custard-like mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer when frozen.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture almost to boiling, stirring constantly. Constant stirring prevents the milk proteins and sugar from scorching or sticking to the bottom of the pan, which would give a burnt taste and grainy texture.
“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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