Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Peach Cream Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peach pulp
Divide the peaches into halves and blanch the kernels.
In a saucepan, combine the peaches and kernels with ½ cup water and 6 ounces sugar. Boil until the sugar dissolves.
Stir the mixture over heat until the fruit reduces to pulp, then press it through a fine sieve into a basin.
Make and freeze the ice
Dissolve ¾ ounce gelatine in ½ cup water and add it to the peach pulp along with 1 pint whipped cream and 3-4 drops of cochineal.
Pour the mixture into an ice mold with a cover. Stir well as it begins to thicken.
Once thick, cover the mold and seal the opening with butter to prevent water from entering.
Surround the mold with ice and saltpetre, at least 3 inches thick.
When firm, the peach ice is ready to serve but can be kept until needed.
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 + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Peach + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together860 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peaches
- Provide the main fruit flavour and, once pulped, the bulk of the ice's body.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and lowers the freezing point so the ice stays soft rather than rock-hard.
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture and gives the frozen ice a smooth, firm body.
- Whipped cream
- Adds fat and air, giving a richer, creamier texture.
The step that matters
Stirring as the mixture thickens. Stirring while it freezes breaks up ice crystals and keeps the texture smooth and creamy. If it is left still, large crystals form and the ice turns coarse and grainy.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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