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 ↓
Plain Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cream
Place the cream in a freezing pot surrounded by ice.
Whisk the cream until it clings to the whisk, then remove the whisk.
Freeze and serve
Add the powdered sugar.
Stir well until frozen using an ice paddle.
Transfer the ice cream to an ice mold or glasses.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Its fat and whipped air give the ice cream a rich, smooth body as it freezes.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the frozen texture by lowering the freezing point.
The step that matters
Whisking the cream until it clings to the whisk. Whisking traps air and thickens the cream, which gives a light texture. Whisking too far can turn the cream grainy or butter-like, so stop when it clings to the whisk.
“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.
You might also like
The 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.

White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipes