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 ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a dish set in hot water.
Stir in the corn starch mixed smooth in a little of the milk.
Let it boil for 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat and cool.
Stir in the eggs and sugar.
Add the cream for extra richness.
Strain the mixture.
Add flavoring when cool.
Freeze
Prepare the ice cream freezer as usual.
Turn the crank 100 times.
Pour a quart of boiling water over the ice and salt.
Fill up again with ice and salt.
Turn the crank 50 times one way.
Turn the crank 25 times the other to scrape the cream from the sides.
Continue until the cream is frozen hard.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Forms the liquid base that the other ingredients set and freeze within.
- Eggs
- Enrich the custard and help it set smooth and firm when frozen.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk when boiled, giving the custard body and a creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the frozen texture so it stays scoopable.
- Rich cream
- Adds fat for extra richness and a smoother, creamier mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Boil the custard for 1-2 minutes. Cornstarch granules swell and thicken only when fully boiled. Undercooked starch leaves the custard thin and can leave a raw, floury taste.
“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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