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Dessert

Marshmallow Ice Cream

A frozen dessert made with marshmallows, macaroons, gelatin, milk, cream, vanilla, and raisins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Marshmallow Ice Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the marshmallows into small pieces.

  2. If the macaroons are fresh, dry them in the oven, then roll them very fine.

Make the base

  1. Dissolve the gelatin in the milk over low heat, stirring until smooth.

  2. Combine the gelatin mixture with the marshmallows and macaroons.

Freeze

  1. When ready to freeze, beat in the cream and add vanilla to taste.

  2. Once the mixture is partly frozen, stir in the chopped raisins.

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. Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Vanilla + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together782 recipes

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

  4. Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,155 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).

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

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

Cream and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,301 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

Marshmallows
Melt into the gelatin base to add sweetness and a soft, chewy body.
Macaroons
Crumbs add body and a toasted, nutty flavour to the ice cream.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture so the ice cream holds a smooth, firm texture.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
Raisins
Add chewy pieces and concentrated sweetness throughout the frozen dessert.

The step that matters

Stir in the raisins once the mixture is partly frozen. If the mixture is fully frozen, the raisins stay clumped and unevenly spread. Partial freezing gives a thick enough base to hold them evenly suspended.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, milk, cream, vanilla):

  1. Strawberryfits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, milk, cream, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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