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 ↓
A Finer Baked Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Boil together gently, for five minutes, a pint and a half of new milk, a few grains of salt, the very thin rind of a lemon, and six ounces of loaf sugar.
Stir these boiling, but very gradually, to the well-beaten yolks of ten fresh eggs, and the whites of four.
Strain the mixture, and add to it half a pint of good cream.
Let it cool, and then flavour it with a few spoonsful of brandy, or a little ratifia.
Bake
Finish and bake it by the directions given for the common custard above.
Alternatively, pour it into small well-buttered cups, and bake it very slowly from ten to twelve minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Yolks and whites set the custard into a soft, sliceable body as they cook.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the custard a smoother, silkier texture.
- Milk (in the method)
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken as it heats.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the custard and adds body to the base.
The step that matters
Stirring the boiling milk into the eggs. Adding hot liquid to eggs too quickly can scramble them. Pouring very gradually while whisking tempers the eggs so the custard sets smooth rather than curdled.
“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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