Why it works: Cinnamon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Almond Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
In a saucepan, combine the milk or cream, sugar, lemon rind, cinnamon, and bitter almonds.
Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Blanch and pound the sweet almonds with a little rose-water to prevent oiling.
Thicken and serve
Mix the pounded almonds with the milk mixture and add the beaten egg yolks.
Stir gently over moderate heat until thickened, but do not let it boil.
Pour the custard into glasses and serve.
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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Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Milk or cream
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavours and sets into a creamy custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they heat, giving it a smooth, set texture.
- Sweet almonds
- Add nutty flavour and body to the custard once pounded into the mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the richness of the milk and egg yolks.
The step that matters
Stir gently over moderate heat until thickened, but do not let it boil. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated, but if the custard boils the proteins curdle and it turns grainy. Low, steady heat and constant stirring keep it smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, cinnamon, almond, rose, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, cinnamon, almond, rose, egg. 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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