Name: Apricot Ice Cream
Ingredients: 1 quart heavy cream; a pinch of salt; 2 cups sugar; 2 egg whites, beaten; apricot pulp

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 ↓

Apricot Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Blend the apricot pulp and sugar together.
Add the heavy cream and beaten egg whites, then mix well and freeze.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + apricottop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + apricottop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,116 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Heavy cream: Adds richness and fat, giving the frozen ice cream a smooth, creamy texture.
Egg whites: Whipped proteins add lightness and help trap air for a softer texture.
Sugar: Sweetens the dish and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer when frozen.
Apricot pulp: Provides the main fruit flavor and some moisture to the base.