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 ↓
Cream for Cream Cakes and Eclairs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine one pint milk, two tablespoons cornstarch, three eggs, three-fourths cup sugar, and butter the size of a walnut.
Boil the milk and add the cornstarch wet with a little cold milk.
Cook the cream
Cook about five minutes.
Add beaten eggs and sugar and cook five minutes longer.
Finish
Add butter and when cool, flavor with lemon or vanilla.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
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 + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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 a smooth, creamy filling.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the hot milk as its starch swells and sets the cream.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help the cream set further as they cook.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the cream and softens its texture.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch. Cornstarch lumps if dropped into hot milk dry. Mixing it into a little cold milk first lets the starch disperse evenly. It then thickens fully once the milk is boiling and kept cooking.
“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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