Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Coffee Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine the eggs and extra yolk in a bowl and beat the mixture well.
Add the milk, castor sugar, and coffee essence and mix thoroughly.
Strain the mixture into a buttered mold.
Steam
Cover the top with a piece of buttered paper, twisting it to secure.
Steam slowly for 30 minutes or longer to avoid holes.
Let it stand for 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve
Carefully turn out when cold and serve with boiled custard or whipped cream.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard into a firm, sliceable structure as they cook gently with the milk.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that gives the custard a soft, creamy texture.
- Castor sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavor of the coffee and eggs.
- Coffee essence
- Gives the custard its coffee flavor and aroma.
The step that matters
Steam slowly. Steaming gently keeps the egg proteins from cooking too fast, which would make the custard tough and cause holes or a grainy texture.
“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.
More coffee custard recipes
You might also like
Coffee Ice Cream91 recipes
Coffee Cake21 recipes
Coffee Bavarian Cream14 recipes
Coffee Pudding10 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.