Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Dissolve the gelatine in a small amount of warm milk.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until creamy.
Combine the milk, dissolved gelatine, and egg mixture.
Finish and churn
Add cream to taste and mix well.
Flavor with lemon or vanilla.
Chill the mixture and churn in an ice cream maker until smooth.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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 that gives the ice cream its body and creaminess.
- Gelatine
- Sets and stabilises the base so the ice cream holds a smooth, firm texture.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and emulsifying power that gives a smoother, creamier texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which makes the ice cream richer and smoother on the palate.
The step that matters
Chill the mixture before churning. A thoroughly chilled base freezes quickly in the machine, forming small ice crystals and a smooth texture. A warm base churns slowly and can turn grainy or icy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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