Why it works: Milk and red currant work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 193 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Custard Mould
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the custard
Prepare a rich custard according to the recipe for Custard a la Reine.
Once thickened and nearly cold, dissolve ½ ounce of isinglass in a little hot milk.
Set and serve
Mix the dissolved isinglass into the custard and whip for 10 minutes.
Pour the mixture into an oiled mould or into five or six smaller moulds.
Refrigerate for 12 hours to stiffen.
Serve with dissolved red currant jelly poured over the top.
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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Milk + red curranttop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together193 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rich custard
- Forms the creamy body of the mould once set.
- Isinglass
- Gelatine-like setting agent that stiffens the custard as it chills.
- Red currant jelly
- Adds tart-sweet fruit flavour and gloss to the finished mould.
The step that matters
Whipping the isinglass into the custard. The isinglass must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed before whipping, or it can set in lumps. Whipping also incorporates air, giving a lighter texture. Lumps or uneven setting will spoil the mould's smooth 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.
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