Why it works: Milk and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Floating Island
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Beat the yolks of 5 eggs and mix in 5 tablespoons of sugar.
Stir in a little of the scalded milk to prevent curdling, then add the rest of the milk.
Cook until thickened, then remove from heat and let cool.
Flavor the mixture, then pour it into a glass dish and refrigerate until very cold.
Make the meringue and serve
Beat the remaining 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of currant jelly.
Spread the meringue over the top of the chilled custard 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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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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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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Egg + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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 base of the custard, giving it its liquid body and creamy texture.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken the custard as they cook, while whites whip into the meringue for lightness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the egg whites hold stiff peaks in the meringue.
- Currant jelly
- Adds fruity sweetness and flavor to the meringue topping.
The step that matters
Cook the custard until thickened. Egg yolks thicken as they are heated, but if the custard gets too hot it can curdle. Cook gently and stop once it coats a spoon, since it will thicken further as it cools.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar. 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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