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Dessert

Maple Dessert

A creamy maple custard made with milk, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, egg yolks, and cornstarch.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Maple Dessert

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve cornstarch in 1 cup of milk.

  2. Scald the other cup of milk.

  3. Melt brown sugar in a frying pan until medium brown.

  4. Gradually add butter to the melted sugar.

  5. Add the scalded milk.

  6. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  7. Stir in the milk with cornstarch.

  8. Boil until thickened.

  9. Remove from heat.

  10. Beat in the egg yolks.

  11. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve cold in sherbet glasses topped with whipped cream, chopped nuts, or a candied cherry.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Milk
Forms the liquid base that the custard thickens and sets within.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and caramel flavor when melted to medium brown.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and mouthfeel.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help set the custard as they cook gently.
Cornstarch
Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, sliceable custard when boiled.

The step that matters

Beat in the egg yolks. Egg yolks begin to set around 160°F and can scramble if the mixture is too hot. Adding them off the heat and cooking gently keeps the custard smooth.

“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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