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 coffee base
In a porcelain-lined pot, combine the milk, cream, and coarsely ground coffee.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat and let it cool.
Strain and sweeten
Strain the mixture through a fine muslin cloth.
Add the sugar to the strained mixture and stir until dissolved.
Freeze
Freeze the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
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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Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + creamtop 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
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and body for the ice cream.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which gives the ice cream a rich, smooth texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
- Coarsely ground coffee
- Infuses the milk and cream with coffee flavor and aroma.
The step that matters
Strain through a fine muslin cloth. Coarse coffee grounds left in the base can make the finished ice cream gritty and uneven. Thorough straining removes them so the texture stays smooth.
“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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