Why it works: Milk and egg 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 ↓
Soft Custard
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, mix the milk, sugar, egg yolk, salt, and flavoring.
Cook the mixture in a double boiler, stirring constantly until it thickens.
Strain the custard and let it cool before adding additional flavoring if desired.
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 + eggtop 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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Sugar + eggtop 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 yolk
- Thickens the custard as it heats and gives it a rich, smooth body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the yolk thickens into a custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the flavor of the custard.
The step that matters
Cooking in the double boiler while stirring constantly. Egg yolk proteins set at gentle heat, and if the custard gets too hot or is left unstirred it can curdle or turn grainy. Steady, moderate heat and constant stirring keep it smooth until it thickens.
“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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