Why it works: Milk and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Custard Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Mix the cornflour smoothly with a little milk.
Simmer the remaining milk with the lemon rind for about 20 minutes, then remove the rind.
Add the milk to the cornflour, stirring constantly.
Return to the heat, stir, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the sugar and salt, then allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and add them to the mixture.
Bake and serve
Line two deep dishes or twelve deep patty pans with pastry.
Pour in the custard and bake at 350°F (175°C) until the pastry is cooked and the custard is set.
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 + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and sets into a tender body when heated and baked.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the milk when cooked, giving the custard a smooth, sliceable body.
- Eggs
- Set on baking to bind the custard and give it a firm, creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the savoury notes of the milk and egg.
The step that matters
Cool the custard slightly before adding the eggs. Eggs added to a very hot mixture can scramble or cook unevenly in lumps. Letting the thickened milk cool a little first lets the eggs blend smoothly, so the baked custard sets evenly and stays silky.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, 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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