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Dessert

Forcemeats

A custard-like dessert made from biscuit powder or crumbs, eggs, milk, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and biscuit are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,874 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Forcemeats

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the biscuit

  1. Soak the biscuit powder or tops and bottoms in cold water for some time before boiling.

  2. Boil in enough water to thoroughly soften them.

  3. Beat with a three-pronged fork until smooth and even pulp.

  4. Pour into a basin and let cool until it can be cut like custard.

Make the custard

  1. In a saucepan, combine the beaten mixture with 2 eggs, sugar, and 1 pint of milk.

  2. Stir continuously and boil for about 5 minutes.

  3. Pour into a basin and use when cold.

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. Sugar + biscuittop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  2. Milk + biscuittop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,332 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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
Set the custard as they cook, giving it body and a thick, sliceable texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds richness and softness.
Biscuit powder or tops-and-bottoms
Forms the thick pulp that gives the custard its body and bulk.

The step that matters

Stir continuously while boiling. Egg proteins and starch-thickened milk can scorch on the pan base or curdle if left unstirred over heat. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly, keeping the custard smooth as it thickens.

“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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