Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Soak the gelatin in 1 pint of warm fresh milk on the stove.
Beat the egg yolks with sugar and cornstarch until well combined.
Add 1/2 gallon of boiling milk to the egg mixture and stir well.
Return the mixture to the stove and cook until it thickens.
Finish and freeze
Before freezing, add the cream and the soaked gelatin mixture while still warm.
Beat the egg whites with sugar until stiff and fold into the cream mixture in the freezer.
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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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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness as they cook with the milk.
- Gelatine
- Helps the frozen ice cream hold its body and resist becoming icy.
- Cornstarch
- Stabilises the custard so it thickens smoothly when heated.
- Egg whites
- Beaten until stiff, they add airiness and a lighter texture.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but overheating can scramble them into lumps. Cook gently and stir constantly 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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