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 ↓
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine coffee, sugar, and egg yolks.
Stir continually over low heat until thickened.
Add boiling milk and cook for 10 minutes without boiling.
Let the mixture cool, then add cream.
Freeze
Pour into a freezer and freeze for 2 hours.
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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Sugar + creamtop 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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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).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 as they set over low heat, giving the ice cream a smooth, rich body.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which keeps the frozen ice cream smooth and creamy rather than icy.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers its freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer when frozen.
- Coffee
- Provides the main flavour and liquid base of the ice cream.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and dairy richness to the custard base.
The step that matters
Cook the custard without boiling. Egg yolks thicken as they heat but curdle and turn grainy if they boil. Stirring over low heat and keeping the mixture just below boiling gives a smooth custard.
“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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