Skip to main content
Dessert

French Cream

A custard made with milk, eggs, sugar, flour, whipped cream, and vanilla, sometimes flavored with chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

French Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Scald the milk in a double boiler.

  2. Beat the eggs with the sugar until light, then whip in the flour.

  3. Pour the mixture into the hot milk and stir until it thickens, cooking for 15 minutes.

Cool and finish

  1. Set aside to cool.

  2. When cold, add the whipped cream, remaining sugar, and vanilla extract.

  3. To make chocolate cream, dissolve the sweet chocolate in boiling water and add it to the custard while preparing.

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. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

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

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

  5. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (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

Eggs
Egg proteins set as the custard heats, thickening it and adding richness.
Flour
Flour stabilises the custard, helping it thicken smoothly and resist curdling.
Milk
Milk forms the liquid base that the egg mixture thickens into a custard.
Sugar
Sugar sweetens the custard and softens its texture as it sets.
Whipped cream
Whipped cream adds air and fat, making the finished custard lighter and richer.
Sweet chocolate
Melted chocolate adds flavour and colour to the part of the custard it is added to.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture into the hot milk and stir until it thickens. Egg proteins set when heated, so if the custard gets too hot or is not stirred constantly, the eggs can scramble and curdle. Gentle, steady stirring keeps it smooth as the flour and egg thicken it evenly.

“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 french custard recipes

Pudding 3 See all 59 →

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes