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
Heat the milk almost to boiling.
Gradually pour in the beaten eggs and sugar, stirring constantly.
Stir in the chocolate and beat well for three minutes.
Return the mixture to the heat and cook until it thickens, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Finish and freeze
Once cool, beat in the cream and pour into the ice cream freezer.
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 + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard as they cook and add richness and structure to the base.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture in the frozen ice cream.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs and chocolate are combined into.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and helps keep the frozen texture soft.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavor and color of the ice cream.
The step that matters
Cook the custard until it thickens. Egg proteins set as the mixture heats, thickening the base. Stirring constantly prevents the eggs from scrambling on the bottom of the pan, which would leave lumps and a grainy texture.
“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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