Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Caramel Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the caramel
Cook the brown sugar over low heat until it turns brown.
Add the scalded milk to the caramelized sugar and let it stand until the sugar dissolves.
Make the custard
In a bowl, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
Pour the scalded milk mixture over the eggs, stirring until well mixed.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set, similar to cup custard.
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 + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk 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
- Eggs
- Their proteins set when heated, turning the liquid custard into a soft, sliceable solid.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid base and milk proteins that give the custard a smooth, tender body.
- Brown sugar
- Caramelizes to add sweetness and a deeper, toasty flavour to the custard.
The step that matters
Browning the sugar. Sugar darkens quickly once it reaches high temperatures, and it can move from amber to bitter and burnt in moments. Cooking over low heat and watching closely gives an even caramel flavour and keeps the bitterness out of the custard.
“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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