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Dessert

Almond Custard

A custard made with almonds, milk, eggs, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,800 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Almond Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit for 3 minutes.

  2. Transfer the almonds to cold water and rub off the skins.

  3. Blanch and finely grind ¼ lb of almonds.

Make the custard

  1. In a saucepan, bring 1 quart of milk to a boil and sweeten to taste.

  2. Beat the 8 eggs and strain them into a bowl.

  3. Gradually pour the hot milk and almond mixture onto the eggs while stirring continuously.

  4. Return the mixture to the heat and boil in a pitcher.

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. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Almonds
Provide the main nutty flavor and the body of the custard.
Milk
Forms the liquid base, adding moisture and creaminess.
Eggs
Set the mixture as they heat, giving the custard its structure.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the almonds and eggs.

The step that matters

Returning the mixture to the heat and boiling. Egg proteins set with heat, and if the custard is overheated or boiled after the eggs are added, the eggs can curdle or scramble, leaving a grainy texture. Stirring constantly keeps the heat even.

Swap the almond

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

  1. Pecansfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Cocoafits about as well
  4. Walnutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar. 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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