Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Custard Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the milk and season with coarse sea salt.
Make the custard
Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake in the hot oven until the crust is set.
Once heated, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and continue baking until the custard is set and not curdled.
Top and brown
Beat the egg whites until frothy, then add sugar and spread over the top of the custard.
Return the pie to the oven to brown the top slightly.
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.
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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, giving it a rich, smooth texture.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the egg proteins set into custard.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a frothy layer that bakes into a light topping over the custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the egg-white topping brown lightly.
The step that matters
Bake the custard at the lower temperature until set. Egg proteins set at moderate heat; too hot and the custard overcooks, curdles and weeps liquid. Reducing the oven temperature keeps the filling smooth while it finishes setting.
“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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