Why it works: Milk and coffee are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,202 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Mix the milk and strong coffee together.
Finish and freeze
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture last.
Freeze the mixture as usual.
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.
-
Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Coffee + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,239 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Provides the creamy base and body for the ice cream.
- Strong coffee
- Supplies the coffee flavour and aroma.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add airiness and a light texture.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff egg whites trap air that gives lightness. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing so the ice cream freezes light instead of dense.
“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.
More coffee ice cream recipes
You might also like
Coffee Custard27 recipes
Coffee Cake21 recipes
Coffee Bavarian Cream14 recipes
Coffee Pudding10 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.