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Dessert

Cream Meringue Pudding

A custard pudding topped with a sweet meringue layer.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cream Meringue Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the custard

  1. In a bowl, cream together the sugar, egg white, and egg yolks.

  2. Add the milk and mix thoroughly.

  3. In another dish, combine the flour and salt, then pour in ½ cup of the milk mixture and beat until smooth.

  4. Gradually add the remaining milk mixture to the flour mixture.

  5. Transfer everything to a double boiler over boiling water and stir until thickened, about 15 minutes.

  6. Add vanilla or other extract and strain into a well-buttered pudding dish.

Top and bake

  1. Beat the remaining egg whites to stiff peaks, gradually adding the powdered sugar.

  2. Spread the meringue over the pudding.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 20 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve cold.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and enrich its texture and color.
Flour
Thickens the milk mixture so the custard sets to a smooth, sliceable body.
Egg whites
Whipped into stiff peaks to form the airy, brownable meringue topping.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and creaminess.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps stabilize the whipped meringue.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard over the double boiler until thickened. Starch in the flour and proteins in the yolks thicken as they heat. Heat slowly and stir constantly over gently boiling water so the eggs do not scramble and the custard thickens evenly into a smooth texture.

Swap the vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, milk, flour, butter):

  1. Vanillathe original
  2. Raisinfits about as well
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk, flour, butter. 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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