Why it works: Lemon and angelica match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 189 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Ice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, mix the sugar, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla essence.
Stir over low heat until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and add the cream.
Freeze and finish
Freeze the mixture in a mold.
Once frozen, turn it out and mix in the candied peel, dried cherries, and angelica.
Place the mixture back into the mold and embed it in ice and salt.
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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Lemon + angelicatop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together189 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + angelicatop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together170 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 as they set on gentle heat and add richness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that thickens with the egg yolks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the pudding soft.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a smoother, creamier texture after freezing.
- Candied lemon or citron peel
- Adds concentrated citrus flavour and chewy texture to the frozen pudding.
The step that matters
Stir over low heat until the mixture thickens. Egg yolks set when heated gently, and too much heat can scramble them into lumps. Keep the heat low and stir constantly so the custard thickens smoothly.
Swap the angelica
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg, vanilla, cream, lemon):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Angelicathe original
- Peppermintfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg, vanilla, cream, lemon. 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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