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Dessert

Ice Cream Without a Freezer

A custard ice cream cooled in ice and rock salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Ice Cream Without a Freezer

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs until light, then stir in the sugar.

  2. Gradually add the heated milk while beating continuously.

  3. Fold in the beaten egg whites until well combined.

  4. Boil the mixture in a double boiler for about 15 minutes, stirring steadily until thickened like custard.

  5. Pour into a bowl and let cool completely.

  6. Once cool, mix in the sweet cream and vanilla or preferred flavoring.

Freeze in the pail

  1. Transfer to a pail with a close-fitting cover and pack with ice and rock salt (3 parts ice to 1 part salt).

  2. Before sealing, beat the mixture for 5 minutes.

  3. Cover with the lid, add more ice and salt, and insulate with a blanket.

  4. Let it sit for 1 hour, then scrape the sides and bottom of the pail to mix the frozen custard.

  5. Beat again until smooth and half-congealed.

  6. Cover and let it sit for 5-6 hours, replenishing ice and salt as needed.

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.

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

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

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness as they set during cooking.
Egg whites
Add air and lightness to the custard mixture before it is cooked.
Sugar
Sweetens the base and softens the texture of the frozen cream.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken into custard.
Sweet cream
Adds fat and richness, giving the finished ice cream a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard to thickness. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but if the custard boils too hard or is overheated, the eggs can curdle and turn grainy. Steady, gentle stirring in the double boiler keeps it smooth before cooling and freezing.

“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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