Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Eggs and Milk
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat the eggs with the sugar until well combined.
Add the milk and mix thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into a pie dish.
Bake and finish
Place the dish in a bain-marie and bake for 45 minutes.
Once done, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Use a red-hot shovel or salamander to caramelize the top.
Serve hot or cold.
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 into a firm, sliceable texture as they cook.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the top brown when caramelized.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that gives the custard its soft, creamy body.
The step that matters
Baking in a bain-marie. Cooking the custard in a water bath keeps the heat gentle and even. Eggs that cook too fast curdle and turn grainy, so the water bath helps the custard set smooth.
“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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