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
Make the custard base
Sift together the sugar, flour, and salt.
In a double boiler, combine the sifted mixture with 1 quart of milk and cook over simmering water for 30 to 60 minutes.
Remove from heat and add 1 quart of heavy cream and your desired flavoring.
Freeze and finish
Freeze the mixture until solid.
Once frozen, fold in the beaten egg whites and stir well.
Pack the ice cream into a container.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the texture of the frozen ice cream.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture as it cooks, giving the base body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat, which makes the ice cream rich and smooth.
- Egg whites
- Beaten and folded in, they add airiness and lightness to the frozen mixture.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard over simmering water. Cooking gently in a double boiler thickens the flour mixture without scorching the milk. Too much heat can cause sticking or curdling, so the base needs steady, low heat for the full 30 to 60 minutes.
“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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