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 ↓
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
In a porcelain-lined basin, mix the cream, coffee, sugar, and egg yolks.
Heat the mixture gently on the stove until it thickens.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into another basin.
Freeze
Pour the strained mixture into an ice cream freezer and freeze until firm.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the base as they heat and add richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
- Heavy cream
- Provides fat that gives the ice cream a rich, smooth mouthfeel.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer and scoopable.
- Strong coffee
- Supplies the main coffee flavour of the ice cream.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture gently until it thickens. Egg yolks set at moderate heat. If the mixture gets too hot or heats too fast, the yolks can scramble and curdle, so the base needs gentle, steady heat and stirring.
“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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