Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Apple Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the apples
Peel, core, and quarter the apples.
Stew the apples with the grated lemon peel in a small amount of water until tender.
Mash the stewed apples until smooth; you should have 1½ pints of stewed apple.
Mix the sugar with the mashed apples and let it cool.
Make the custard
Beat the eggs lightly and gradually stir them into the milk alternately with the stewed apple.
Pour the mixture into cups or a deep dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 20 minutes.
Serve
Serve cold, garnished with grated nutmeg.
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.
-
Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs set the custard as they bake, giving it a soft, tender structure.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and richness that the eggs set into a creamy custard.
- Apples
- Stewed and mashed, they supply the main body, moisture, and fruity flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the apples and lemon.
The step that matters
Combining the eggs and milk with the stewed apple. Eggs must be beaten lightly and stirred in gradually so they blend evenly rather than clumping. Even distribution lets the custard set smoothly when baked.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, egg, milk, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sugar, egg, milk, nutmeg. 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.
More apple custard recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.