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 ↓
Ics Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil the milk.
Pour the hot milk over the beaten yolks of the eggs and sugar.
Add corn starch and return to the kettle.
Beat until it thickens, stirring constantly.
Finish and freeze
When cold, add the gelatine dissolved in boiling water, then the cream.
Add the beaten egg whites after the cream is in the freezer.
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.
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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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and enrich it, while whites add lightness when folded in.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard so it holds body when cooked and chilled.
- Gelatine
- Helps the frozen mixture set firmly and resist icy texture.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and softens the texture of the frozen cream.
The step that matters
Beat until it thickens, stirring constantly. Egg yolks can scramble if overheated. Constant stirring keeps heat even so the custard thickens smoothly instead of curdling.
“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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