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 ↓
Snow Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the snow
Soak the gelatine in ½ cup of cold water for 1 hour.
Add 1 pint of boiling water to the soaked gelatine and stir until dissolved.
Mix in 1⅓ cups of sugar and all the lemon juice.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually fold them into the gelatine mixture for 30 minutes using a whisk.
Pour the mixture into a wet mold to set.
Make the custard
For the custard, heat the milk, egg yolks, and remaining sugar, adding flavor as desired.
Serve
Once the 'snow' is set, unmold it into a glass dish and pour the custard around the base.
Prepare this dessert on Saturday and keep it in the refrigerator until serving.
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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Lemon + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,961 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable snow that holds its shape when unmolded.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the snow its light, airy texture.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they heat, giving it a smooth, rich body.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the custard, adding richness and a creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens both the snow and the custard.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the snow.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites into the gelatine. Gelatine must be cool and just beginning to thicken before the whites are folded in. If it is too warm, the foam deflates; if it has set, lumps form and the snow loses its airy texture.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, vanilla. 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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