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Dessert

Miss Sallie Smythe

A custard dessert made with milk, cream, gelatin, eggs, and sponge cake.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Miss Sallie Smythe

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Take one quart of milk and make a rich custard.

  2. Take half a box of Cox's gelatine and pour enough hot water over it to dissolve it.

  3. Pour the dissolved gelatine into the custard.

  4. When the custard begins to thicken, beat the whites of five eggs very light and pour them into the custard.

  5. Also add a pint of rich cream whipped to the custard.

  6. Flavor to taste.

Assemble

  1. Having lined a dish with sponge cake, pour the custard into the dish.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

278Calories
15 gProtein
19 gFat
13 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church. 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 + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  3. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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

Milk
Forms the base of the rich custard, providing liquid and body.
Eggs
Whites beaten light add airy lift and help the custard set with structure.
Rich cream
Whipped cream adds fat and a light, soft texture to the custard.
Gelatine (in the method)
Sets the custard so it holds its shape when chilled.

The step that matters

Adding the beaten egg whites. Egg whites must be beaten light and folded in once the custard begins to thicken. Adding them too early or deflating them can leave the dessert dense rather than airy.

“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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