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Dessert

Strawberry Custard

A custard made with egg yolks, milk, sugar, vanilla, strawberries, powdered sugar, and whipped egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Strawberry Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine egg yolks, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.

Prepare the strawberries

  1. Crush and strain the strawberries.

  2. Mix the strained strawberries with powdered sugar.

  3. Adjust sweetness if the fruit is very acidic.

Finish and serve

  1. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  2. Fold in the strawberry mixture gradually.

  3. Serve custard in small glass cups.

  4. Top with strawberry float.

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

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

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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 as they set when heated, giving it a smooth, rich body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and provides creaminess.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the mixture and add airy volume.
Strawberries
Provide fruity flavor and acidity that balances the sweetness of the custard.

The step that matters

Cook the custard until thickened. Egg yolks thicken as their proteins set with heat, but overheating can curdle them. Stir constantly over medium heat to keep 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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