Why it works: Cream and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,038 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓
Macaroon Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make vanilla ice cream using 4 cups of cream.
Roll 6 macaroons into a powder.
Soak the powdered macaroons in sherry for 10 minutes.
Finish
Add the soaked macaroons to the ice cream after it is frozen.
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 + sherrytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the ice cream its smooth, creamy body.
- Macaroons
- Add sweetness and an almond-based chewy texture that contrasts with the smooth ice cream.
- Sherry
- Adds aroma and a mild alcoholic note; the alcohol also keeps the ice cream softer when frozen.
The step that matters
Adding the soaked macaroons after freezing. Alcohol and sugar lower the freezing point, so mixing the macaroons in before freezing can stop the ice cream from setting firmly. Adding them once it is frozen keeps the texture intact.
“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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