Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 ↓
Currant Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil in a pint of clear currant-juice ten ounces of sugar for three minutes.
Take off the scum.
Pour the boiling juice on eight well-beaten eggs.
Thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water.
Pour it out.
Stir it till nearly cold.
Finish and adjust
Add to it carefully, and by degrees, half a pint of rich cream.
Add last of all two tablespoonsful of strained lemon-juice.
If the currants are very ripe, omit one ounce of the sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| 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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Currant + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Coagulate when heated, thickening the custard into a smooth, set texture.
- Cream
- Adds fat for a rich, smooth mouthfeel and softens the set custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the tartness of the currant juice.
- Currant juice
- Provides the main flavour and liquid base of the custard.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and cuts the sweetness.
The step that matters
Thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water. Eggs set when heated, so gentle indirect heat from a water bath lets the custard thicken smoothly; direct heat can scramble the eggs and leave lumps.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, egg, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Orangefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, egg, lemon. 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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