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 ↓
Ice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Make a custard by heating the milk and whisking in the eggs until combined.
Soak the macaroons, sponge cake, and sugar in the custard.
Freeze
Place the mixture in a freezer and stir until partially congealed.
Add the whipped cream and mix well.
Freeze until firm.
If desired, add small pieces of citron or dried currants before serving.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk 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
- Macaroons
- Absorb the custard and give the pudding its body and chewy, almond-scented texture.
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard as they set, giving the frozen pudding a rich, smooth structure.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that soaks into the dry ingredients.
- Whipped cream
- Adds air and fat, lightening the texture and keeping the frozen pudding soft and creamy.
- Sponge cake
- Soaks up custard to add softness and light, cake-like crumb.
The step that matters
Stir until partially congealed. Stirring while the mixture partly freezes breaks up ice crystals and keeps the texture smooth. Adding the whipped cream only after this point lets it hold its air instead of collapsing into the base.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg, cream. 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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