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 custard
Scald 1 pint of milk with a 1-inch piece of vanilla bean.
Beat 2 eggs (or yolks of 4) very light, then add 2 cups of sugar and 2 teaspoons of corn starch; beat well.
Add the egg mixture to the boiling milk and cook in a double boiler for at least 20 minutes, stirring often.
Add a pinch of salt, then let it cool.
Finish and freeze
Once cool, add 1 pint of cold milk and ½ to 1 cup of cream.
Before freezing, remove the vanilla pod, scraping all the seeds into the custard.
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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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + corntop 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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Vanilla and sugar 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
- Eggs
- Egg proteins set as the custard cooks, giving it body and a smooth, thick texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the frozen texture by lowering the freezing point.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard as it heats, helping it stay smooth and resist separating.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and supplies milk solids for flavour and creaminess.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which makes the ice cream richer and smoother on the palate.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard in the double boiler. Egg proteins can scramble if the custard gets too hot. Gentle, steady heat with frequent stirring keeps it smooth, while the starch thickens it evenly.
“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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