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Meringue Custard Tartlets

A tart filled with custard and topped with meringue.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Meringue Custard Tartlets

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the pans

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Butter individual pie pans about 6 inches in diameter and 2 to 3 inches deep, then line them with puff pastry.

Make the custard

  1. In a bowl, gradually stir the flour and salt into the beaten egg yolks.

  2. Add the cream and stir until free from lumps, then mix in the sugar.

  3. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it coats the back of a spoon, being careful not to let it boil.

  4. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract, and let the custard cool.

  5. Fill the lined tart pans with the custard and bake in the preheated oven.

Make the meringue and finish

  1. While the custard is baking, beat the egg whites in a copper bowl until frothy.

  2. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar and a dash of salt while continuing to beat until firm peaks form.

  3. Spread a thin layer of meringue over the baked tart and use a piping bag to decorate the top.

  4. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the meringue and return to the oven until lightly golden.

  5. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set on gentle heat, and add richness.
Egg whites
Whip into a foam that forms the stable, airy meringue topping.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, giving the custard a smooth, soft texture.
All-purpose flour
Stabilises the custard so it thickens smoothly and holds its shape when cut.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and meringue, and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard over low heat. Egg yolks set at low temperatures; if the custard boils, the yolks can scramble and turn grainy, ruining the smooth texture.

Swap the vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, cream, sugar):

  1. Raisinfits about as well
  2. Vanillathe original
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Strawberryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, cream, sugar. 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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