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 ↓
Milk Shake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Sweeten the milk with sugar syrup.
Add vanilla extract to the milk.
Fill a shaker glass with crushed ice to the brim.
Shake and serve
Pour the milk mixture into the shaker and shake vigorously.
Pour into a chilled tumbler.
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 + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Syrup + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,855 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Provides the liquid base and body, and carries the other flavours through the drink.
- Sugar syrup
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the milk.
- Vanilla extract
- Adds aroma and a rounded vanilla flavour.
- Crushed ice
- Chills the milk quickly and dilutes it slightly as it is shaken.
The step that matters
Shake vigorously with the ice. Shaking the milk hard against crushed ice chills it fast and dilutes it a little, which softens the flavour. Too brief a shake leaves the drink warm and harsh. Using a chilled tumbler helps keep it cold once poured.
“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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