Why it works: Sugar and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,592 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Creme De Menthe Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil water and sugar together for 15 minutes to make a syrup.
Add crème de menthe and green vegetable coloring to the syrup.
Freeze and serve
Strain the mixture, chill it, and then freeze.
Serve in thin green glasses, garnished with a sprig of mint.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sugar + minttop 32% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,592 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the ice and lowers its freezing point, keeping it softer and scoopable.
- Crème de menthe
- Adds mint flavour and aroma, and its alcohol keeps the frozen texture softer.
The step that matters
Chill the mixture fully before freezing. Sugar and alcohol both lower the freezing point, so a cold, well-mixed base freezes faster into smaller ice crystals and a smoother texture. A warm mixture freezes slowly and turns coarse and icy.
“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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