Why it works: Almond and peanut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 305 recipes. Both carry acetylpyrazine, which smells roast. The science ↓
German Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a saucepan until boiling hot.
Blend the almonds and peanuts into a paste.
Add the nut paste and candied citron to the boiling milk.
Cook until well combined and thickened.
Set and serve
Pour into a dish and refrigerate until set.
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.
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Almond + peanuttop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).
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Milk + peanuttop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,048 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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 thickens into the custard.
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main nutty flavour and body through the paste.
- Peanuts
- Add a richer nut flavour and help thicken the paste.
- Candied citron
- Adds sweetness and a candied fruit aroma.
The step that matters
Cook until well combined and thickened. Nut paste can settle or scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred while cooking. Cooking until thickened gives the mixture enough body to set firmly when chilled.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, peanut):
- Sesamefits better
- Flaxseedfits about as well
- Beansfits about as well
- Almondthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, peanut. 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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