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 ↓
Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
In a bowl, beat the eggs until light.
In a saucepan, heat the milk to near boiling.
Slowly pour the hot milk into the beaten eggs and sugar, stirring constantly.
Add the grated chocolate and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
Finish and freeze
Cool the mixture, then beat in the heavy cream.
Freeze the mixture until solid.
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.
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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Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Cream + milktop 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
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard base as they cook and add richness and structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and helps keep the frozen ice cream softer.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, creamy texture that resists icy crystals.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that is combined with the eggs to make the custard.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavor and adds body to the thickening mixture.
The step that matters
Adding the hot milk to the eggs. Pouring hot milk into eggs too quickly can scramble them. Pouring slowly while stirring constantly tempers the eggs so the custard thickens smoothly.
“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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