Why it works: Milk and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,800 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Meopham Cream
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a sharp oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the caramel
In a saucepan, combine ½ cup sifted sugar and 1 tablespoon water.
Stir over heat until it forms a clear syrup thick enough to coat a mold.
Pour the syrup into the mold, turning it to coat evenly.
Make the custard
In a bowl, beat 3 eggs.
Gradually add 1½ pints boiling milk and 4 ounces castor sugar, mixing well.
Add 2½ ounces chopped almonds to the mixture.
For added flavor, mix in 1 tablespoon of chartreuse before baking.
Bake and serve
Cover the top of the mold with buttered paper.
Place the mold in a tin of boiling water, ensuring the water reaches nearly to the top of the mold.
Bake in a sharp oven at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes.
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 + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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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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Sugar + eggtop 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 sliceable structure as they cook.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and, as a syrup, forms the clear coating on the mold.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that gives the custard its soft, creamy texture.
- Sweet almonds
- Add nutty flavor and a little texture to the custard.
The step that matters
Cooking the sugar syrup to a clear coat. Sugar syrup can crystallize or darken quickly if stirred unevenly or overheated. Stirring over heat only until clear and thick enough to coat keeps it smooth and pale, so the custard releases cleanly and the finished surface looks glossy.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, milk):
- Pecansfits about as well
- Almondthe original
- Cocoafits about as well
- Walnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk. 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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