Why it works: Gelatin and cream 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 Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Add the flour, sugar, and eggs to the hot milk and boil for twenty minutes.
Soak the gelatin in cold water to cover, then stir it into the mixture while hot.
Finish and freeze
Once cool, add the cream, wine, and additional sugar.
Fold in the finely chopped candied fruit.
Freeze the mixture and mold it as desired.
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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Gelatin + creamtop 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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Milk and flour 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
- Eggs
- Thicken the milk mixture as they cook and add richness to the custard.
- Gelatin
- Sets the frozen mixture so it holds its shape when molded.
- Flour
- Thickens the hot milk so the base becomes body-rich and less watery.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, creamy texture that resists iciness.
- Candied fruit
- Adds sweetness and chewy pieces throughout the frozen dessert.
The step that matters
Boil the milk, flour, sugar, and eggs for twenty minutes. Eggs and flour must be cooked long enough to thicken the custard and cook the egg proteins fully. Stopping early leaves a thin base and raw-egg flavor.
“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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