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 ↓
Ice Cream Without a Freezer
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Make a custard with the milk, sugar, and egg yolks according to custard ice cream directions.
Add the beaten egg whites, cream, and vanilla just before freezing.
Chill the mixture.
Pack and freeze
Pour the chilled mixture into a pail with a tightly-fitting cover.
Place the pail on a flat block of ice 2 inches thick at the bottom.
Pack in pounded ice and salt in a ratio of 2 parts ice to 1 part salt.
Beat the cream in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Cover the mixture with a lid. Wrap the lid with thick cloths.
Turn the mixture steadily until water begins to rise.
Uncover the mixture. Scrape the cream from the bottom and sides.
Beat the cream until smooth and half-frozen.
Cover the mixture again. Drain off the brine.
Refill the mixture with ice and salt.
Repeat the process until the cream is fully frozen, ensuring it is higher in the center than at the sides.
Cover with the lid. Add more ice and salt.
Wrap with an old thick blanket. Leave the mixture for several hours.
Replenish ice and salt as needed. Drain water as needed.
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.
-
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing body and a creamy mouthfeel once frozen.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness through their proteins and fat.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which keeps the frozen ice cream smooth and tender rather than icy.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the mixture softer when frozen.
- Eggs
- Egg whites added before freezing give the mixture air and a lighter texture.
The step that matters
Keeping the ice and salt packed and draining brine. Salt lowers the melting point of the ice, so the brine gets colder than plain ice water. Draining off meltwater and replenishing ice and salt keeps the cream cold enough to freeze evenly; if the brine is diluted, freezing slows and the cream can stay grainy.
“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.
You might also like
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.