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Dessert

Cold Custards

A chilled custard made from milk, cream, sugar, wine, and rennet, flavored with nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Cold Custards

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Mix a quart of new milk and a half pint of cream in a bowl.

  2. Add a quarter pound of powdered white sugar and stir until dissolved.

  3. Stir in a large glass of white wine that has an inch of washed rennet soaked in it.

  4. Add a nutmeg and mix.

  5. Pour the mixture into custard cups.

Set and cool

  1. Place the cups in a warm place near the fire until they set into a firm curd.

  2. Transfer the cups to ice or a very cold place to cool completely.

  3. Grate nutmeg over the finished custards.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

249Calories
8 gProtein
13 gFat
25 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By Eliza Leslie. 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.

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. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

New milk
Forms the body of the custard, which sets into a soft curd with the rennet.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother, fuller texture to the set custard.
Powdered white sugar
Sweetens the custard and dissolves fully into the liquid base.
White wine
Adds acidity and flavour to the base mixture.
Rennet (in the method)
Causes the milk to coagulate into a firm curd as it warms.

The step that matters

Setting in a warm place. Rennet only curdles milk within a suitable warm range, and the cups must stay undisturbed so the curd forms firm rather than broken. Cooling afterward firms the set custard further.

“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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