Why it works: Lemon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Good Old-fashioned Boiled Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse the milk
Combine 1½ pints of new milk and the rind of a fresh lemon in a saucepan.
Let the mixture infuse for 30 minutes.
Simmer the milk and lemon rind for a few minutes.
Add 4½ ounces of white sugar.
Make the custard
Beat the yolks of 14 eggs in a bowl.
Mix the beaten yolks with ½ pint of new milk.
Stir the boiling milk mixture quickly into the egg mixture.
Remove the lemon peel.
Pour the custard into a deep jug.
Place the jug over boiling water in a pan.
Stir the custard gently and continuously until it begins to thicken.
Once thickened, stir more quickly, ensuring the spoon touches the bottom of the jug.
Remove from heat just before boiling to prevent curdling.
Finish and serve
Pour the custard into a bowl.
Stir until nearly cool.
Gradually add ⅓ cup of brandy and 2 ounces of blanched almonds, 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.
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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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Brandy + almondtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,969 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set with gentle heat and add richness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and carries the lemon flavour.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the richness of the yolks.
- Lemon rind
- Infused into the milk to give a bright citrus aroma.
The step that matters
Remove from heat just before boiling. Egg yolks begin to coagulate and curdle once they get too hot, so the custard must be pulled off the heat as soon as it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
Swap the almond
The recipe marks almond as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, lemon, sugar, egg, brandy):
- Almondthe original
- Walnutfits about as well
- Chestnutfits less well
- Pistachiofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, lemon, sugar, egg, brandy. 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.
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