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Dessert

Orange Filling for Cake

A custard-like orange filling made with milk, cornstarch, egg yolks, sugar, orange rind, orange juice, and optional vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Orange Filling for Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. In a double boiler, heat the milk until scalded.

  2. Moisten the cornstarch with a little cold water and add it to the scalded milk.

  3. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth and thick.

  4. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy.

  5. Add the egg mixture to the cornstarch mixture and remove from heat.

Flavor and finish

  1. Once cool, stir in the grated orange rind and orange juice.

  2. Add vanilla for flavor if desired.

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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Orange + vanillatop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,371 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,696 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

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

Sugar and vanilla 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the filling and add richness and a smooth, custardy texture.
Cornstarch
Thickens the hot milk into a smooth, stable filling as it heats.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the cornstarch and yolks thicken.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps the yolks whip to a light, fluffy texture.
Orange rind
Adds bright citrus aroma and flavor to the filling.
Orange juice
Adds citrus acidity and fresh orange flavor to the filling.

The step that matters

Add the egg mixture to the cornstarch mixture and remove from heat. Egg yolks can scramble if they meet very hot liquid too quickly. Stirring constantly and removing the pan from heat keeps the custard smooth while the yolks thicken it gently.

“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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