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 ↓
Orange Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar and water for 5 minutes, then cool.
Add the orange juice to the cooled mixture.
Make the custard
Beat the egg yolks until light, then mix with the single cream.
Cook the egg yolk mixture in a double boiler until it thickens, then remove from heat and cool.
Combine the cooled egg yolk mixture with the orange juice mixture.
Finish and freeze
Beat the whipping cream until very stiff and fold it into the mixture.
Freeze in an ice cream maker or pack in salt and ice and let stand for 4 hours.
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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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cream + orangetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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 base as they cook and add richness to the custard.
- Whipping cream
- Adds fat and air when whipped, giving the ice cream a light, creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and lowers its freezing point for a softer scoop.
- Single cream
- Adds fat and body, making the custard smoother and richer.
- Strained orange juice
- Provides the orange flavour and acidity, along with liquid for the base.
The step that matters
Cook the egg yolk mixture in a double boiler until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken gently around 160°F; overheating can scramble them into lumps, so cook slowly over simmering water and stir constantly.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, egg. 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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