Why it works: Cream and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,241 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Chicken Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a double boiler, heat the cream and chicken stock until hot.
Whisk in the beaten egg yolks and cook until the mixture thickens to a soft custard consistency.
Serve
Season with salt, pour into cups, and serve cold.
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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Cream + chickentop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,241 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Chicken + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,991 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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 liquid into a soft custard as they set with gentle heat.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the custard.
- Chicken stock
- Provides the savory chicken flavor that forms the base of the custard.
The step that matters
Cooking the egg yolks in the double boiler. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat; if the mixture gets too hot it can curdle or scramble. Slow, indirect heat in a double boiler keeps the custard smooth while it sets.
“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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