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Dessert

Macaroon Ice Cream

A frozen dessert made from crushed macaroons, sherry wine, cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Macaroon Ice Cream

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Place the macaroons in a tin pan and dry them in the oven for 10 minutes.

  3. Remove the macaroons and let them cool on a table.

  4. Crush the cooled macaroons finely using a rolling pin on a biscuit board.

  5. In a bowl, combine the crushed macaroons with the sherry wine.

Make the ice cream

  1. In another bowl, mix the cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract to taste.

  2. Pour the cream mixture into a freezer.

  3. When it begins to freeze, add the macaroons and sherry mixture.

  4. Continue to churn until well frozen.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sherry + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together506 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Macaroons
Provide the main flavour and texture, with crumbs that add body to the frozen cream.
Cream
Supplies fat that makes the ice cream rich and smooth by limiting large ice crystals.
Milk
Adds moisture and dilutes the cream, keeping the mixture lighter in fat.
Sherry wine
Adds aroma and flavour, and its alcohol keeps the mixture softer when frozen.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, which keeps the ice cream scoopable.

The step that matters

Continue to churn until well frozen. Churning while the mixture freezes breaks up ice crystals and incorporates air, giving a smooth texture. Adding the macaroons only once freezing has begun keeps their crumbs from sinking and becoming soggy.

“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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