Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Scald the milk in a pot.
In a bowl, mix the beaten eggs with the corn starch or flour until well combined.
Add the egg mixture to the hot milk and cook until it begins to thicken.
Ensure the corn starch or flour is fully dissolved.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and provides dairy richness and body.
- Eggs
- Thicken and enrich the custard as their proteins set with gentle heat.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the perception of the dairy.
- Corn starch or flour
- Thickens the custard as its starch granules swell and gelatinize when heated.
- Flavoring
- Adds aroma and flavour to the finished custard base.
The step that matters
Adding the egg mixture to the hot milk. Egg proteins set at moderate heat and can scramble if the mixture gets too hot too fast. Adding the eggs gradually to hot milk, while stirring, keeps the custard smooth and lets the starch thicken it evenly.
“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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