Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, heat the milk over boiling water.
Mix the corn starch with a spoonful of cold milk and stir it into the heated milk.
Stir until it boils for 2 minutes.
Beat the yolks with 1 tablespoon of sugar and stir them into the mixture until thickened, but do not let it boil.
Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Finish the mixture
Beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff and fold them into the mixture.
Stir in the strawberry syrup and place in a cold area.
Once the custard is cold, beat the cream until foamy and fold it in.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer.
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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Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + strawberrytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Syrup + creamtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and whites, whipped stiff, lighten the mixture for a smooth texture.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk mixture into a custard as it heats and boils.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving the frozen ice cream a creamy mouthfeel.
- Strawberry syrup
- Adds strawberry flavour and sweetness, and colours the base.
- Rich sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that the starch thickens.
The step that matters
Not letting the custard boil after adding the yolks. Egg yolks scramble and curdle when overheated, leaving a grainy custard. Stir them in gently and keep the heat low once they are added.
Swap the strawberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn, egg, syrup, cream, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Strawberrythe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn, egg, syrup, cream, sugar. 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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