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Dessert

A Dainty Dessert

A custard made from sweet milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla, poured over stale cake and topped with whipped egg whites and coconut or almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By North End Club (Chicago, Ill.) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

A Dainty Dessert

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Place one pint sweet milk in a double boiler.

  2. Beat 3 yolks lightly.

  3. Add 3 tablespoonfuls sugar and 1 pinch salt to the milk.

  4. When the milk reaches boiling point, add the egg mixture.

  5. Stir until the custard thickens.

  6. Add vanilla to taste.

Assemble and serve

  1. Arrange pieces of stale cake in a shallow dish.

  2. Pour the custard over the cake and set to cool.

  3. Beat 3 egg whites.

  4. Spread the beaten egg whites over the custard when served.

  5. Scatter grated coconut or blanched shredded almonds on top.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

276Calories
14 gProtein
13 gFat
25 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 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.

By North End Club (Chicago, Ill.). 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. 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.

  1. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the milk into a custard, while beaten whites form a light topping.
Sweet milk
Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken into custard.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the custard.
Stale cake (in the method)
Soaks up the custard, giving the dish its body and texture.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard as it thickens. Egg yolks set when heated, so the custard can curdle or scramble if it gets too hot or is not stirred. Gentle heat and constant stirring keep it 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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