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 ↓
Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Scald the milk with the coffee and strain through a fine cloth.
Cook the milk, egg yolks, sugar, and salt until it thickens into a soft custard, then strain and cool.
Finish and freeze
Add the cream to the cooled custard and freeze.
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).
-
Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Provides the creamy base and carries the coffee flavour into the custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they cook, giving the ice cream a smooth, rich body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and softens the texture of the frozen ice cream.
- Cream
- Adds fat that makes the frozen ice cream rich and smooth.
- Ground coffee
- Gives the ice cream its coffee flavour and aroma.
The step that matters
Cook the custard until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but overheated yolks can scramble and turn grainy. Cooking gently until the custard coats a spoon keeps it smooth before straining and cooling.
“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 coffee ice cream recipes
You might also like
Coffee Custard27 recipes
Coffee Cake21 recipes
Coffee Bavarian Cream14 recipes
Coffee Pudding10 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.