Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Extra-nice Dessert Dish
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 sponge
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, beat 3 eggs and mix in 1 cup sugar until well combined.
Add 1 cup flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 3 tablespoons boiling water; mix until smooth.
Pour the batter into round cake tins and bake until golden.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, heat 1 quart milk and whisk in 2 eggs and 3 tablespoons sugar to make a custard.
Pour the custard over the baked cakes.
Finish and chill
Whip ½ pint thick cream until stiff, sweeten to taste, and spread over the custard layer.
Chill the dessert thoroughly before 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.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and thicken the custard, giving structure to both layers.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the sponge as its starch sets during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and become light.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and custard and adds tenderness to the sponge.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and richness.
- Thick cream
- Adds richness and a stiff, spreadable topping over the custard layer.
The step that matters
Whisking eggs into the hot milk. If the milk is too hot or added too fast, the eggs scramble instead of thickening smoothly. Whisking constantly and heating gently lets the egg proteins set into a smooth custard.
“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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