Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Tea Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Steep the mixed tea in boiling cream.
In a bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and egg yolks until thick.
Gradually add the sugar and yolk mixture to the cream, then bring to a boil.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and stir until cold.
Freeze
Freeze the mixture.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Tea + creamtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together463 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Tea + sugartop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,204 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set with heat, giving the base body and richness.
- Cream
- Carries the tea flavour and provides fat for a smooth, rich texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the base and helps keep the frozen texture soft rather than icy.
- Mixed tea
- Supplies the main aroma and flavour, infused into the hot cream.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar and yolk mixture to the cream. Egg yolks scramble if heated too quickly. Adding them gradually to the hot cream tempers the mixture, so it thickens smoothly instead of curdling.
“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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