Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Snow Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the milk.
Pound the vanilla bean in a mortar and mix it with the milk.
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish and place it in a pan of boiling water.
Cook until the custard thickens, then set aside to cool.
Top and serve
About 15 minutes before serving, beat the egg whites to a dry froth and sweeten with sugar.
Pile the whipped egg whites on top of the custard and serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Egg yolks thicken the custard, while whipped whites form the light snow topping.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the egg yolks set into a custard.
- Vanilla bean or grated lemon peel
- Adds aroma and flavour to the milk base.
- Fine white sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Cook until the custard thickens. Egg yolks set gradually in gentle heat; too much heat can curdle them, leaving a grainy custard. The water bath keeps the temperature gentle and even.
“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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