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
Make the base
In a large bowl, combine the cream, egg yolks, sugar, and black coffee.
Stir well with an egg beater until the mixture begins to thicken, but do not boil.
Strain the mixture to remove any solids.
Allow the mixture to cool completely.
Freeze
Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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).
-
Cream + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the ice cream a smooth, creamy texture.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the base as they gently set, and help keep the ice cream smooth.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer.
- Black coffee
- Supplies the main flavour and most of the liquid in the base.
The step that matters
Stir until thickened, but do not boil. Egg yolks thicken the base by setting gently as they warm. If the mixture boils, the yolks can scramble and turn grainy, so heat should stay gentle while stirring.
“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.
More coffee ice cream recipes
You might also like
Coffee Custard27 recipes
Coffee Cake21 recipes
Coffee Bavarian Cream14 recipes
Coffee Pudding10 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.