Why it works: Milk and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,685 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Custard Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pie plate with pastry.
Make the custard
In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs with sugar.
Add salt and cornstarch mixed with a little milk to the eggs.
Pour in the remaining milk and mix well.
Fill and bake
Pour the mixture into the crust, filling it to the top.
Grate nutmeg on top before baking.
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.
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- As they cook, the eggs set the custard, giving it structure and richness.
- Milk
- Milk provides the liquid that the eggs set into a soft, creamy custard.
- Cornstarch
- Cornstarch thickens the custard and helps keep it smooth and stable.
The step that matters
Mixing cornstarch with a little milk before adding it to the eggs. Cornstarch clumps when it hits hot or thick liquid unless it is first dispersed in a cool liquid. Mixing it with a little milk first lets the starch spread evenly, so the custard sets smooth instead of lumpy.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Dillfits less well
- Parsleyfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk. 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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