Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, heat the milk almost to boiling.
In a bowl, mix the beaten eggs and sugar until light.
Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly.
Add the cocoa or chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.
Chill and churn
Chill the mixture, then churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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.
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + cocoa powdertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together826 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + cocoa powdertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,920 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture in the frozen ice cream.
- Whole milk
- Provides liquid and milk solids that form the base of the custard.
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard and add richness and structure to the base.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the frozen texture of the ice cream.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder or chocolate
- Supplies the chocolate flavor and deep color of the ice cream.
The step that matters
Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly.. Adding hot milk slowly and stirring keeps the eggs from scrambling. Gentle, gradual heating lets the egg proteins thicken the custard 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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