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Custard Fritters

Custard fritters are steamed custard pieces fried until golden, served with sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

Custard Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the milk, cream, sugar, and eggs together.

  2. Strain the mixture into a small bowl.

  3. Place the bowl in a saucepan with boiling water, reaching halfway up the sides of the bowl.

  4. Steam gently until set, about 20 minutes.

  5. Cool the bowl in the ice until cold.

Fry and serve

  1. Cut the custard into pieces 2 inches long by 1 inch square.

  2. Dip the pieces into common batter.

  3. Fry in plenty of hot lard until deep fawn color.

  4. Serve sprinkled with sugar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Set the custard as they cook, giving it a firm, sliceable structure.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and softness.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving the custard a smoother, softer texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and adds flavor to the finished fritters.

The step that matters

Steam gently until set. High heat or boiling water can make egg custard curdle and turn grainy or watery. Gentle steam sets the egg proteins evenly into a smooth, tender custard that holds its shape when cut.

“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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