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
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Make a custard by whisking together the eggs and cream.
Add the roasted coffee beans and let it sit to infuse the flavor.
Strain the mixture to remove the beans.
Stir in the sugar and chill the custard until cold.
Freeze and serve
Freeze the custard in a mold.
Dip the mold quickly in cold water and turn out the ice.
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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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream 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
- Eggs
- Set the custard and give the ice a rich, smooth body.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the frozen texture smooth and creamy.
- Mocha coffee
- Provides the main coffee flavor as the beans infuse into the custard.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the frozen texture.
The step that matters
Dip the mold quickly in cold water. A brief dip loosens the frozen edges so the ice releases cleanly. Staying in the water too long starts melting the surface and can blur the shape.
“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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