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 ↓
Caramel Cream Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the custard according to your preferred recipe.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with a few drops of water and boil until it turns a deep golden-brown color.
Add the cream to the caramel and stir until boiling.
Make and freeze
Mix the caramel into the custard and let the mixture cool.
Once cooled, add the Benedictine and freeze for 35 to 40 minutes.
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
- Custard
- Forms the creamy base that the frozen texture is built on.
- Loaf sugar
- Caramelizes to provide the deep, toasted flavor and color.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, softening the ice cream's texture.
- Benedictine
- Adds aromatic flavor and, as a liqueur, helps keep the frozen texture soft.
The step that matters
Boiling the caramel to a deep golden-brown. Sugar burns quickly once it darkens, so it must be watched closely and removed at the right color. Adding a few drops of water helps the sugar dissolve evenly before it caramelizes.
“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.