Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Frangipane a LA Concurs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the custard
Line an earthenware dish with puff pastry.
Boil the milk.
In a dish, mix the eggs, sugar, corn starch, the juice and rind of the lemons, and the butter, heated.
When the milk boils up, mix all and stir briskly until it thickens.
Take off the fire, stir in the brandy, let it cool, then pour into the pastry.
Bake and serve
Bake in a hot oven.
Serve hot, with wine or brandy sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that thickens into the custard when heated with the starch.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the lemon.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard as it heats with the milk.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat for a smooth, tender texture.
- Lemons
- Provide acidity and aroma from the juice and rind.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and warmth to the custard filling.
The step that matters
When the milk boils up, mix all and stir briskly until it thickens.. Corn starch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil with the liquid. Stirring briskly keeps the custard smooth and prevents lumps or scorching on the bottom of the pan.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, brandy, sugar, corn, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, brandy, sugar, corn, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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