Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Junket
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the milk in a double boiler until lukewarm.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Stir in the vanilla and rennet.
Pour the mixture into a dish.
Let it stand in a warm place undisturbed until 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + junkettop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together82 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Vanilla + junkettop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together49 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Milk
- Provides the proteins that rennet coagulates into a soft, set custard.
- Rennet
- Enzyme that curdles milk proteins, turning the liquid into a gel.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the mild, milky flavour.
- Vanilla
- Adds aroma that rounds out the flavour of the milk.
The step that matters
Stirring in the rennet at lukewarm temperature. Rennet is an enzyme that works best at mild warmth. Milk that is too hot can weaken it, so the junket may not set. Disturbing the milk while it sets breaks up the forming gel, so it should be left still.
“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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