Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream Caramel
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Gather one quart milk, one cup sugar, four eggs, and one spoonful flour.
Place milk in a double boiler with a pinch of salt.
Break the eggs, separating the yolks from the whites.
Make the custard
Beat the yolks well, adding gradually the sugar and flour.
Add the mixture slowly to the boiling milk until the custard is velvety.
Add vanilla or another flavor, except lemon.
Top and caramelize
Beat the whites very stiff with a pinch of salt, adding a little sugar.
Place the stiff whites on the custard in small moulds.
Brown one-half cup sugar for caramel, being careful not to let it burn.
Pour the caramel over the whites, allowing a little to slip into the custard.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard as they set, and whipped whites form the light topping.
- Milk
- Serves as the liquid base that the egg mixture thickens into a smooth custard.
- Flour
- Starch helps thicken the yolk mixture and stabilizes the custard against curdling.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, when browned, forms the caramel that flavors the dish.
The step that matters
Adding the yolk mixture to the hot milk. Egg proteins set with heat, so adding the mixture slowly while stirring lets it warm gradually and become velvety instead of curdling into lumps.
“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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