Why it works: Almond and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the milk to scalding.
Add the sugar and stir in the corn-starch mixture.
When it thickens, beat in the whipped egg whites, then add the almond extract and nutmeg.
Remove from heat and set in boiling water to keep warm, but do not cook further.
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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Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + corntop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together485 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Nutmeg + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together563 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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 that the cornstarch thickens into a sauce.
- Corn-starch
- Thickens the hot milk into a smooth, lightly set sauce.
- Egg whites
- Whipped in at the end to add a light, airy texture to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the flavors of the sauce.
The step that matters
Keeping the sauce warm without cooking it further. Once the cornstarch has thickened the sauce, extra heat can break it down and make it thin or grainy. Holding it in boiling water keeps it warm gently, and the whipped egg whites can deflate if the sauce is overworked or overheated.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, nutmeg, corn):
- Almondthe original
- Walnutfits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, nutmeg, corn. 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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