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
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Dissolve the corn starch in 1 cup of milk.
Add the egg whites and beaten egg yolk to the mixture.
Sweeten with granulated sugar and add ½ gallon of milk, then boil.
Once boiling, pour the mixture over the egg and starch mixture gradually.
Stir for a few minutes after all the milk is added.
Finish and freeze
Let it cool, then add 1 quart of heavy cream.
Season with vanilla and freeze.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the mixture as it heats, giving the base body and a smooth texture.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and helps the custard thicken and stay smooth when heated.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and keeps the frozen ice cream softer rather than rock hard.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch and eggs thicken into a custard.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat that makes the frozen ice cream creamy and smooth.
The step that matters
Pour the boiling mixture over the eggs and starch gradually. Adding hot liquid to egg yolks too quickly can scramble them. Pouring slowly while stirring gently raises their temperature evenly, so the custard thickens smoothly.
“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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