Why it works: Egg and milk 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 ↓
Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a double boiler.
Thoroughly mix the egg yolks and sugar, then pour the warm milk over them.
Return the mixture to the double boiler and heat until it thickens, stirring constantly.
Finish
Cool the custard and add flavoring.
If the custard curdles, remove it from the heat and beat with a whisk.
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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Egg + milktop 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 as they set with gentle heat, giving it body and richness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the egg yolks thicken into a smooth custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the custard smooth and tender.
The step that matters
Heating until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken as their proteins set with heat, but too much heat makes them curdle. Stirring constantly and keeping the gentle heat of a double boiler spreads the heat evenly and helps the custard thicken smoothly.
“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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