Name: Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled; ½ cup powdered sugar; ½ cup strawberry jam; Juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste; ¼ cup whole milk; 1 pint heavy cream; Food coloring (optional)

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 ↓

Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

In a basin, combine the strawberries and powdered sugar.
Add the strawberry jam, lemon juice, and milk; mix well.
Stir in the heavy cream and add food coloring if desired.

Freeze

Freeze the mixture until solid.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Strawberry jam + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together144 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Fresh strawberries: Provide the main fruit flavor and moisture for the base.
Heavy cream: Adds fat for a rich, smooth, creamy texture.
Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness and helps keep the frozen texture softer.
Strawberry jam: Concentrates strawberry flavor and adds sweetness.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the strawberry flavor.
Whole milk: Adds moisture and dairy richness to the base.