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 ↓
Philadelphia Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the cream
In a double boiler, heat the cream over simmering water, stirring often.
Remove from heat when the water boils, then add sugar and flavoring, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Strain and freeze
Let the mixture stand for a few minutes, then strain it into a freezing can.
Freeze the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
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.
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
- Provides fat for a rich, smooth body and a creamy mouthfeel in the frozen ice cream.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the frozen texture softer and smoother.
The step that matters
Heat the cream gently over simmering water. A double boiler spreads heat gently and stirring keeps the cream from scorching on the base. Overheating can give a cooked or scorched flavour and a grainy texture.
“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
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe 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.