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Dessert

Ice Pudding

A chilled dessert made from milk, sugar, lemon peel, egg yolks, whipped cream, crystallized fruit, and kirsch, shaped like a pineapple.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Ice Pudding

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ice Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine 1 pint of milk, 4 oz. caster sugar, and the peel of 1/2 lemon in a saucepan.

  2. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.

  3. Strain the mixture over the beaten yolks of 8 eggs.

  4. Return to the stove and stir until thickened, but do not let it boil.

  5. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.

  6. Let it cool completely.

Freeze and mold

  1. Once cool, freeze the mixture until it reaches a batter-like consistency.

  2. Add 1/2 pint of whipped cream, 1/2 lb. chopped crystallized fruit, and 1/3 cup of kirsch or noyau syrup.

  3. Mix well and continue freezing.

  4. Fill a mold with the frozen mixture.

  5. Store in an ice cave or surround with ice until ready to serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Cream + syruptop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard base and add richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
Whipped cream
Adds fat and air, giving the frozen dessert a lighter, softer texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, carrying the sugar and flavor.
Caster sugar
Sweetens the custard and lowers its freezing point, keeping it softer when frozen.
Crystallized fruit
Adds sweetness, chew and fruit flavor through the frozen mixture.

The step that matters

Stir the custard without boiling. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but past about 80°C they scramble and curdle. Stirring gently over low heat keeps the custard smooth and thick.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, cream, syrup):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, cream, syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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