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Dessert

Caramel Custard

A baked milk and egg custard set over caramel in a mould, turned out and served cold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By T. R. Allinson · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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Caramel Custard

Why it works: Milk and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Caramel Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Put the dry castor sugar into an enamelled saucepan and let it melt and turn a rich brown over the fire, stirring all the time.

  2. When the sugar is melted and browned, stir into it about 2 tablespoonfuls of hot water and the juice of 1/2 lemon.

  3. Pour the caramel into a mould or cake tin and let it run all round the sides of the tin.

Make the custard

  1. Heat the milk near boiling point and add the vanilla and sugar.

  2. Whip up the eggs and stir the hot milk carefully into them, so as not to curdle the eggs.

  3. Pour the custard into the tin on the caramel.

Bake and serve

  1. Stand the tin in a larger tin with hot water and place it in the oven.

  2. Bake in a moderately hot oven for about 20 minutes or until the custard is set.

  3. Allow it to get cold, turn out, and serve.

Alternative method

  1. Make the custard as in the recipe for "Cup Custard."

  2. Take 4 oz. of castor sugar and put it over a brisk fire in a small enamelled saucepan, stirring until quite melted and a rich brown.

  3. Cautiously add 2 tablespoonfuls of boiling water, taking care not to be scalded by the spluttering sugar.

  4. Gradually stir the caramel into the hot custard.

  5. Let it cool, and serve in custard glasses.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

288Calories
15 gProtein
13 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

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

By T. R. Allinson. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

  2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

  5. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Eggs
Set as they cook, giving the custard its firm, sliceable structure.
Milk
Forms the liquid base, and its proteins help the custard set into a smooth, creamy body.
Sugar
Melts and browns into caramel, adding sweetness and a deep toasted flavour.

The step that matters

Stirring the hot milk into the eggs. Pour the hot milk in slowly while whisking, so the eggs warm gradually. Adding it too fast cooks the egg proteins into lumps, so the custard curdles and turns grainy.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits about as well
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar. 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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