Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Floating Island
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is near boiling.
Mix the corn starch with a little milk, then add it to the hot milk along with the egg yolks.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat and add sugar to taste.
Top and set
Beat the egg whites until stiff, sweeten them, and dot over the custard.
Place the dish in a cool area to set.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar 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
- Milk
- Forms the body of the custard, providing liquid and richness for the set dessert.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard as it heats, giving it a smooth, sliceable body.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the custard as they set with heat.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks to form the light, airy floating islands on top.
The step that matters
Bringing the custard to a boil. Cornstarch needs to reach a boil to fully thicken, but egg yolks can curdle if overheated. Stirring constantly and removing from heat as soon as it thickens keeps the custard smooth.
“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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