Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Corn Starch Meringue
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk to boiling.
Stir in the corn starch, which has previously been dissolved in a little cold water.
Boil for fifteen minutes, stirring all the time.
Remove from the fire and while still hot add gradually the yolks of the eggs, beaten with sugar and flavored with vanilla or lemon.
Pour into a pudding dish, well buttered, and bake for fifteen minutes, or until the custard begins to set.
Top and serve
Draw to the door of the oven and spread quickly and lightly upon it a meringue of the whites, beaten stiff with a half cup of jelly.
Bake, covered, for five minutes; then brown slightly.
Eat cold, with powdered sugar sifted thickly over the top.
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.
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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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).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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, providing body and richness.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk as it boils, giving the custard its set structure.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and thicken the custard; whites whipped to a meringue give the topping lift.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilize the beaten egg whites.
- Jelly
- Sweetens and flavors the meringue topping and adds fruity acidity.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks to the hot custard. If the hot custard is not stirred while the yolks go in gradually, the yolks can scramble into lumps. Adding them gradually, off the heat, tempers the eggs so the custard stays smooth and thickened.
“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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