Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Tapioca Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak 3 tablespoons of tapioca in cold water overnight.
Drain the water and add the tapioca to 1 quart of milk in a double boiler.
Make the custard
Stir in the yolks of 4 eggs, ⅔ cup of sugar, and a pinch of salt.
Cook while stirring until the mixture begins to thicken.
Once cool, flavor with vanilla extract.
Top and brown
Make a frosting with the 4 egg whites and drop it over the top.
Sprinkle a little sugar on top and place in the oven to brown lightly.
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.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Tapioca
- Its starch swells in hot milk and thickens the pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the tapioca and eggs set into a custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and enrich the custard as they heat.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the topping brown lightly.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a frosting that sets and browns on top.
The step that matters
Cook the custard while stirring until it begins to thicken. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated, so gentle heat in a double boiler and constant stirring keep the custard smooth while the tapioca thickens it.
“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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