Why it works: Cream and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Beat the egg whites until light.
Add the milk and sweeten to taste.
Heat the mixture, stirring until it thickens but does not boil.
Strain through coarse muslin to remove the thickened egg whites.
Let the mixture cool, then add the heavy cream and flavor to taste.
Dissolve the gelatin in a small amount of boiled water.
Combine the gelatin mixture with the cream when cool.
Add macaroons and freeze
Pound the stale macaroons finely after soaking them in a little cream.
Add the macaroons to the cream mixture and freeze.
Make the strawberry ice cream
Mash the strawberries and strain them.
Mix the strained strawberries with sugar and heavy cream, then freeze.
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 + gelatintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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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 + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Beaten to a light foam that is cooked to thicken the custard, adding structure to the base.
- Heavy cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving the frozen ice cream a smooth, creamy texture.
- Gelatin
- Sets the mixture and helps it hold a firm, smooth texture when frozen.
- Stale macaroons
- Add almond flavor and a crumbly texture to the frozen base.
- Strawberries
- Provide the fruit flavor, acidity and color for the strawberry ice cream.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and softens the frozen texture.
The step that matters
Heating the milk and egg whites without boiling. Heating the egg mixture gently and stopping before it boils lets the proteins thicken it into a custard. Boiling can curdle or scramble the eggs, leaving lumps that strain out poorly.
“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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