Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Almond Custards
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine the cream, pounded almonds, rose water, and sugar.
Beat the egg yolks and strain them into the mixture.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Set
Pour the mixture into cups and let cool.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Provides richness and body, so the custard sets soft and smooth.
- Blanched almonds
- Supply the main flavour and thicken the custard as their solids suspend in the cream.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they heat, setting it into a smooth, tender texture.
- Rose water
- Adds a floral aroma that defines the flavour of this dish.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Egg yolks set at low temperatures, and high heat or stopping the stirring can scramble them and leave lumps. Gentle, constant stirring keeps the custard smooth as it thickens.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, rose, egg, sugar):
- Almondthe original
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Walnutfits less well
- Chestnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, rose, egg, sugar. 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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