Name: A Finer Baked Custard
Ingredients: 1½ pints (6 cups) of milk; a few grains of salt; the thin rind of 1 lemon; 6 ounces (¾ cup) of loaf sugar; 10 large eggs (yolks only); 4 large egg whites; ½ pint (2 cups) of heavy cream; a few tablespoons of brandy or ratafia

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 ↓

A Finer Baked Custard

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the custard

Gently boil milk, salt, lemon rind, and sugar in a saucepan for 5 minutes.
Gradually stir the boiling mixture into the well-beaten yolks and egg whites.
Strain the mixture and add the cream.

Flavor and bake

Let it cool, then flavor with brandy or ratafia.
Pour into small well-buttered cups and bake slowly at 300°F (150°C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,738 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,635 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,340 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Yolks and whites set as the custard bakes, giving it structure and a firm, sliceable texture.
Milk: Provides the liquid base that the eggs set into, giving the custard its body and moisture.
Heavy cream: Adds fat for a richer, smoother texture and a softer, more tender set.
Loaf sugar: Sweetens the custard and adds to its tender texture.

The step that matters

Stirring the hot milk into the eggs. Adding boiling milk to eggs too quickly can scramble them. Pouring slowly while whisking warms the eggs gradually so the custard stays smooth.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, cream, brandy):

Vanillafits better
Strawberryfits better
Figfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, cream, 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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A Finer Baked Custard