Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Boiled Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat the egg yolks slightly, then add the sugar and salt.
Pour the hot milk over the mixture, stirring constantly.
Cook in a double boiler, stirring until thickened and it coats the spoon.
If the custard curdles, beat it with an egg beater.
Cool and add flavoring.
Make the egg white topping
If using egg whites, beat them stiff and fold in the powdered sugar.
Drop spoonfuls of the egg white mixture into hot (not boiling) water and cover the dish.
Test for doneness by inserting a knife; it should come out clean.
Remove from water using a wire egg beater or slotted spoon and place on top of the custard.
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 + 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).
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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness as they set during gentle cooking.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that thickens into the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the set texture of the yolks.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and poached to form a light, airy topping on the custard.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard in a double boiler. Egg yolks thicken gently around 160°F but curdle if overheated. Slow, constant stirring over indirect heat keeps the custard smooth, and the spoon-coating test shows when it is ready.
“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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