Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil milk, eggs, corn starch, and sugar together over a kettle of water until thoroughly cooked.
Let the mixture cool.
Finish and flavor
Add cream and a small quantity of baking soda if the cream is slightly turned.
Flavor with Coleman's vanilla extract.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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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 + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard.
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard as they cook and add richness.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the mixture as it heats and holds it smooth.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and keeps the frozen texture softer.
- Cream
- Adds fat, making the ice cream richer and smoother.
The step that matters
Cooking the milk, eggs, corn starch and sugar together. Corn starch only thickens once the mixture reaches a boil, while eggs can curdle or scramble if overheated. Cooking gently but thoroughly sets the custard smooth and fully thickened before it is cooled and frozen.
“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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