Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the coffee
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place the coffee berries on a tin and roast in the oven for 5 minutes.
Boil the cream and milk together in a saucepan.
Pour the hot cream mixture over the roasted coffee berries and cover until cold.
Make the custard
Strain the mixture and add the arrow-root.
Boil the mixture like custard, then stir in the sugar until dissolved.
Freeze the mixture until solid.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Turkey + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together281 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving the ice cream a smooth, creamy texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and milk solids that soften the texture and add body.
- Arrow-root
- Thickens the mixture when boiled, helping it set smooth and stable.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
- Turkey coffee berries
- Provide the main coffee flavour once roasted and steeped in the cream.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture like custard. Arrow-root thickens only when it is heated enough, and the mixture can scorch or lump if boiled too hard or unattended. Stirring keeps it smooth and evenly thickened before freezing.
“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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