Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Vanilla Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a pot, combine the milk, beaten egg yolks, and sugar.
Cook over medium heat until slightly thickened.
Once cool, fold in the beaten egg whites.
Beat the mixture briskly for 2 minutes, then strain it.
Set the mixture in a cool place until cold.
Finish and freeze
Once cold, fold in the whipped and sweetened cream.
Freeze immediately.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing most of the body of the ice cream.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set on gentle heat and add richness and emulsifying power.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice cream softer when frozen.
- Egg whites
- Folded in beaten form to add air, lightening the texture of the ice cream.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat, which makes the frozen ice cream smooth and creamy rather than icy.
The step that matters
Cook over medium heat until slightly thickened. Egg yolks thicken when heated, but overheating can curdle them and leave a grainy custard. Cook gently and stop once the mixture coats a spoon.
“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 vanilla ice cream recipes
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.