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 ↓
Snow Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the snow
Soak the gelatine in ½ cup cold water for 1 hour.
Add 1 pint boiling water to the soaked gelatine and stir until dissolved.
Mix in 1 1/3 cups sugar and lemon juice.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Once the gelatine mixture is cold, gradually fold it into the egg whites, spoonful by spoonful, for 30 to 60 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a wet mold or egg glasses and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours.
Make the custard and serve
To make the custard, heat 1 1/2 pints milk with the egg yolks and remaining sugar, adding vanilla to taste.
Once the snow custard is set, turn it out onto a glass dish and pour the custard around it.
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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Lemon + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,961 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a light, wobbly structure as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the snow its airy, foamy texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the custard, adding richness and body to its texture.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the custard, providing creaminess and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens both the snow and the custard and helps stabilise the foam.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the dish.
The step that matters
Folding the gelatine into the egg whites. The gelatine mixture must be cold but still liquid, and it must be folded in gently. If it is too warm, it deflates the whipped whites, and if it has already set, it forms lumps instead of an even, airy foam.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, vanilla. 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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