Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Peach Meringue
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
Mix the cornstarch with a little milk.
Scald the rest of the milk in a saucepan until it boils.
Add the moistened cornstarch to the boiling milk, stirring constantly until it thickens.
Remove from heat, add the butter, and let it cool.
Beat the egg yolks with half the sugar until light and creamy, then mix into the cooled custard.
Assemble and bake
Peel and halve the peaches, then layer them in a buttered baking dish, sprinkling with the remaining sugar.
Pour the custard over the peaches and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes.
Top and serve
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix well.
Spread the meringue over the baked peaches and brown in the oven.
Serve hot with a rich sauce or cold with sugar and cream.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Peach + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together781 recipes
Shared aroma: phellandrene (minty).
-
Peach + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together860 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peaches
- Form the fruit base and add moisture and natural sweetness to the dish.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich and thicken the custard; whites whip into the meringue topping.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that bakes around the peaches.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the boiling milk so the custard holds its body when cooled and baked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the peaches, custard and meringue, and helps stabilize the whipped whites.
The step that matters
Beating and folding the meringue. Egg whites must be beaten until stiff and the sugar added gradually so the foam holds its shape and browns evenly in the oven rather than weeping or collapsing.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, milk. 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.
More peach meringue recipes
You might also like
Peach Ice Cream64 recipes
Peach Fritters55 recipes
Peach Ice16 recipes
Dried Peach Pudding14 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.