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 ↓
Maids of Honor
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Take one cupful of sour milk, one of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of melted butter, the yolks of four eggs, juice and rind of one lemon and a small cupful of white pounded sugar.
Make the curd
Put both kinds of milk together in a vessel, which is set in another and let it become sufficiently heated to set the curd.
Then strain off the milk, rub the curd through a strainer.
Make the filling
Add butter to the curd, the sugar, well-beaten eggs and lemon.
Bake
Line the little pans with the richest of puff paste and fill with the mixture.
Bake until firm in the centre, from ten to fifteen minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sour Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sour milk
- Curdles with gentle heat to form the curd that gives the cake its body.
- Eggs
- Yolks and beaten eggs bind the filling and help it set firm when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon
- Juice and rind add acidity and a fragrant citrus aroma.
- Puff paste (in the method)
- Rich pastry case holds the filling in shape while it bakes.
The step that matters
Heating the milks to set the curd. The milks must be heated enough to set the curd so it can be strained and rubbed smooth. Too little heat leaves the milk unset and watery, while too much heat makes the curd tough and grainy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, sugar, egg. 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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