Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Baked Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
Boil the milk in a saucepan.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until very light.
Stir the egg mixture into the boiling milk, stirring continuously until it boils again.
Remove from heat immediately and pour into a shallow dish.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until very light and spread them over the top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until light brown, about 5 to 10 minutes.
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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Egg + milktop 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).
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
- Eggs
- Egg proteins set as the custard cools and heats, giving it a firm, sliceable structure.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the egg proteins set into a creamy, tender custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Remove from heat immediately after the mixture boils again. Egg proteins set when overheated, so the custard can curdle or turn grainy. Stirring constantly and taking the pan off the heat as soon as it boils keeps the texture smooth 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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