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
Heat the milk in a saucepan over boiling water.
Mix the corn starch with a spoonful of cold milk and stir into the saucepan.
Stir until it boils for 2 minutes.
Beat the egg yolks with 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Stir the beaten yolks into the mixture until it thickens, but do not let it boil.
Remove the mixture from heat and cool for 5 minutes before adding the egg whites.
Add the whites and flavouring
Beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff.
Fold the stiff egg whites into the mixture.
Stir in the strawberry syrup.
Place the mixture in a cold area.
Finish and freeze
Once the custard is cold, beat the cream until foamy.
Fold the foamy cream into the mixture.
Pour the entire mixture into a 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set gently with heat.
- Egg whites
- Beaten until stiff, they add lightness and airy texture to the mixture.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth custard base.
- Sweet cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving a smooth, creamy texture.
- Strawberry syrup
- Adds strawberry flavour and sweetness to the base.
The step that matters
Stirring the yolks in without boiling. Egg yolks thicken gently around 160°F but can scramble if the custard boils, leaving lumps and a grainy texture. Keep the heat low and stir constantly until it coats a spoon.
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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