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 ↓
Mock Cream Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the crust
Line a pie plate with rich crust and bake.
Make the filling
Fill the crust with a mixture of 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, yolks of 2 eggs, and vanilla.
Cook the mixture until thick.
Fill the crust with the thickened cream.
Top and bake
Cover with a meringue made of the whites of 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons sugar.
Place in the oven until a light brown.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 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 |
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 + 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).
-
Sugar + eggtop 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard filling that thickens when cooked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and the meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, sliceable cream when heated.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich and help set the filling; whites whip into the meringue topping.
The step that matters
Cook the mixture until thick. Cornstarch thickens only when the mixture reaches a boil and is stirred, so the filling must be cooked fully. Undercooked starch stays runny and the cream will not set when cooled.
“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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